Tracing Riccardo Pelizzo’s Academic career across several continents

By Ahmed Gimba

When Riccardo Pelizzo enrolled at the University of Bologna in the early 1990s, his academic path began with philosophy. More than three decades later, that journey has taken him through universities and research institutions across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Australia, culminating in his appointment as Dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan.

Born in Verona, Italy, on 31 December 1971, Pelizzo earned a Laurea in Philosophy from the University of Bologna in 1995. Two years later, he completed a Postgraduate Diploma in International Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Bologna Center, before moving to the United States to pursue graduate studies in political science at Johns Hopkins University. There, he obtained a Master of Arts in 2002 and a Ph.D. in Political Science in 2004.

Reflecting on his academic interests in previous professional profiles, Pelizzo has noted that his work centres on political institutions, governance and public accountability. Those themes have remained consistent throughout his teaching and research career.

While completing his doctoral studies, Pelizzo received a series of academic fellowships, including the Johns Hopkins Fellowship for Graduate Studies and the Dean’s Teaching Fellowship. His research training also included participation in the ICPSR Summer Program at the University of Michigan through the Political Science/ICPSR Clogg Scholarship.

His first university appointment came in 2003 as an instructor at Johns Hopkins University. The following year, he joined Singapore Management University as an Assistant Professor, where he worked until 2007. During that period, he secured competitive research grants examining legislative oversight, parliamentary voting, ethics, and political institutions.

In 2007, Pelizzo moved to Griffith University in Australia, serving first as Research Fellow and later as Senior Research Fellow. His work expanded to include studies on electoral competition, public accounts committees, governance, and emergency powers. He also held a visiting fellowship at the Habibie Center in Jakarta, Indonesia.

A decade after completing his doctorate, Pelizzo returned to a teaching-focused role when he was appointed Professor of Practice at McGill University in 2014. That same year, he joined Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan as an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public Policy. Over the following years, he assumed a number of administrative positions, including Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, Vice Dean for Research, Ph.D. Program Coordinator, Acting Vice Dean for Research and Acting Dean. In 2026, he was appointed Dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy.

His academic career has also included visiting appointments at institutions such as the University of Melbourne, Palacký University in the Czech Republic, the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar in Indonesia.

In Italy, Pelizzo obtained the Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale in 2014, qualifying him for appointments at both the associate professor and full professor levels in political science.

His work has been recognised through several academic awards, including the Vincent Wright Memorial Prize, the Distinguished Reviewer Award from Politics and Policy, and honours from Nazarbayev University and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 2026, he was inducted into Sigma Xi, an international scientific research honour society.

Throughout his academic career, Pelizzo has remained engaged in research, university administration and international academic collaboration. According to his curriculum vitae, he has delivered lectures and participated in academic and policy discussions at universities, parliaments and public institutions in more than 20 countries, covering topics related to governance, public policy and political institutions.