Gretchen Bartlett
Area Manager, International and Global Affairs
Gretchen M. Bartlett is the Area Manager for International & Global Affairs (IGA) at the Kennedy School where she helps IGA faculty chair Dara Cohen develop, implement and evaluate the IGA teaching area by providing strategic advice, managing operations, and advising students.
From 2019 to 2022, Gretchen served as the Senior Associate Director of the Project on Managing the Atom. Between 2001 and 2009, Gretchen served as the Associate Director of the Preventive Defense Project, a research collaboration of HKS and Stanford University co-directed by Ash Carter and former Secretary of Defense William Perry. Upon his return to the Belfer Center, former Secretary of Defense Carter asked Gretchen to again head his research effort at Harvard and help with the transition from Washington, D.C. to Cambridge, MA. From 2017 through 2019 Gretchen served as the Senior Associate Director of the Technology and Public Purpose Project. From 2014 through 2015, Gretchen also served as the Administrative Manager for the Maine Food Cluster Project at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.
A Wellesley magna cum laude double major in Political Science and French, and Harvard Extension graduate with an ALM in Management, Gretchen's background also includes eight years of studying, teaching, and working in southern France (Aix-en-Provence). In Boston, she has worked for the Quebec government promoting economic exchanges between New England and Quebec; the French Library and Cultural Center programming cultural events; and World Learning directing high school foreign exchange programs. Having spent six years managing her alma mater's junior year-abroad program in Aix-en-Provence early in her career, and now 20 years at Harvard, Gretchen's daily interactions with students, faculty and scholars continue to challenge and motivate her.