I first met Ambassador Jonathan Moore in 1980 during his tenure as the director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. I was teaching two study groups there, on covert action and U.S. foreign policy, and U.S. MENA foreign affairs. Jonathan was formerly the US coordinator for refugees and Ambassador to the United Nations responsible for economic and social issues.
He was in so many ways my mentor, and responsible for my Institute's ability to conduct our global experiential immersive education programs, knowledgeably, safely, and responsibly.
I invited Jonathan to join the Institute’s Advisory Board, on which he served for ten years.
He wrote this of the Institute:
It is easy for me to assess the EPIIC program at Tufts from an academic viewpoint and that of a competitor…And I do so with admiration and event envy. There are three characteristics of EPIIC which I would like to mention specifically. The first is the kind of research which is at the same time rigorous and relevant, analytically sound by requiring a political and cultural respect and a practical value. The second is the full-scope and full-bore engagement which this program invites of its participants, which apparently becomes irresistible, given their enthusiastic immersion, thirsty to apply the knowledge they are acquiring in their very high-quality, formal education to challenges of a human scale. The third is the confidence which the program instills in idealistic and spiritual commitment, the understanding that the joining of ideals with intellect and competence is to be pursued rather than shunned.
He inspired and mentored generations of our students and especially stimulated the creation of our Voices from the Field program.
The last program I initiated for the Institute before I became Emeritus in 2016 is an annual lecture on “Global Moral Leadership” to be given in his honor. Finally on December 4th, 2020, a mutual friend, Ambassador Samantha Power delivered the Institute's inaugural lecture in memory of our extraordinary mutual friend. I first asked her to give this talk when we were ushers at Jonathan's Harvard memorial service in June of 2017, and she asked me to wait until she finished her book, The Education of An Idealist. It was worth the wait. The lecture was a wonderful inspirational moment, joining former UN Ambassadors, whose ethics and idealism permeated everything we accomplished at the Institute.
Jonathan and his wonderful wife Katie are greatly missed.