Ira Jackson

Who is Ira Jackson?

Ira A. Jackson is the dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, appointed January of 2013. The school’s 60 faculty and 400 graduate students have a values-driven commitment to make a difference by developing tools to evaluate and address today’s social and economic inequities. Its faculty and research staff contribute intellectual capital to policymakers, to other researchers, and to local and global community leaders. They offer creative, effective solutions for improved performance management and social, economic, and environmental justice.

Prior to becoming dean of the McCormack Graduate School, he was a Distinguished Scholar at MIT's Legatum Center for Innovation and Development.

Jackson was the former dean of Claremont Graduate University's Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management.

Before coming to Claremont, Jackson was the president and CEO of the Arizona State University Foundation. He also was appointed in August 2002 as the first president of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. He was also a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Centerfor Public Leadership.

From 2000-2002, he was the director of the Center for Business and Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. From 1987 to 1999, Jackson was executive vice president of BankBoston. He previously worked in government, where from 1983 to 1987 he served as Massachusetts Commissioner of Revenue under Governor Michael Dukakis, and was previously chief of staff for Boston mayor Kevin White.