Meet Jeremi Suri
Jeremi Suri’s excitement about teaching is palpable, and he feels fortunate to teach what he loves: public policy and making history relevant. His high-energy approach reaches a broad mix of undergraduate, graduate, executive learners and the public through his popular classes, books, podcast and editorials for national publications.
Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs. He is a professor in the University's Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Twice a year he offers Organizational Leadership and Strategy in Uncertain Times through Human Dimensions of Organizations (HDO).
Suri teaches 350-370 students every year and shares this advice from his mentors:
“Pursue your passions. Find what you love doing and what you're good at and get better at it, and you'll find a way to get someone to pay you for it. Lead with your values. People will define you based on your values.”
“Passionate.” “Energetic.” “Often unorthodox.”
Professor Suri agrees with these student assessments. He uses the same words himself!
Settling on that passion took a while for Suri, the son of working-class immigrants and product of public schools in New York City. College saw him head across the country to a campus he had never even visited thanks to a scholarship award. As an undergraduate at Stanford, his interests in history and policy began to gel and his career came into focus, thanks to great mentors and advice he still passes on to his students.
“I thought I was going to study to be a lawyer because I'd always liked talking and arguing. And I loved reading and writing. Then, I was fortunate to have some amazing history professors and realized I had a love of history, probably from my background as an immigrant.”
His study of historical perspective, leadership and informed policymaking began to define his life mission, taking him to Ohio University for his master’s degree and to Yale University for his doctorate. In 2011 he began teaching at The University of Texas at Austin.
Lifelong Learning Is the Future
Suri is enthusiastic about the ways that UT embraces lifelong learning and prepares graduates for multiple careers, employers and opportunities.
“I love that we are moving into a moment where we don't only think of students as being between 18 and 24. One of the great things that a university can offer is continual intellectual growth and skill development for people who are living longer lives and doing more things. Keep coming back. You may have mastered your area for now, but in two years, you’re going to be behind.”
Approach in the Classroom:
Suri describes two principles for his classes:
“I work hard, and you work hard. I expect my classes to stretch people with lots of reading, rigorous discussion and lots of writing. I'm proud that my classes are rigorous and challenging.”
“I want a vibrant, diverse range of opinions. Classes are not about us all agreeing. I expect us to form our own opinions by developing a fact-based conceptual foundation for intelligent disagreements and finding better ways to discuss issues.”
Navigating Today's Political Landscape
Suri encourages thoughtful and vigorous discussions. The key is to bypass ideology and deal with facts.
“I tell them they can't hide. The most important thing to do is to learn to show that you care about all kinds of arguments, not to pigeonhole yourself. Be open minded and crave new and thoughtful information or fact-based alternative views.
“It shouldn't matter whether you are a Democrat or Republican. The facts are the facts.”
Moving from Academics to the Real World
Suri believes in networks and connections and sees part of his job as helping students connect with professionals and potential mentors in “a sea of opportunities.”
But, more importantly he tries to help learners figure out their passions and how they can sell themselves in that space.
He teaches developing leaders to realize how quickly the world is changing and to come up with ideas to understand opportunity. “There is no recipe. You can’t just bake a cake; you need to understand how your organization and the world are evolving. Act with strategic purpose. This is what Machiavelli, who I like to teach, talks about.”
What Keeps Suri Excited?
His core passions, explained in his own words, “I'm passionate about how leadership evolves. There is no one way to be a great leader and every era, every moment, every context requires a different kind of leader.
“I love teaching about how ideas and perceptions, especially those inherited from the past, influence the way we think. My last book is about how the Civil War still influences policymaking.
“I'm fascinated by democracy and the many challenges of understanding it.” His weekly podcast, “This is Democracy,” examines making democracy applicable across generations and backgrounds.
More About Suri’s Work
Professor Suri comments frequently on public news programs and his writings appear in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Atlantic, Newsweek and other media.
His weekly podcast, “This is Democracy,” has logged more than 260 episodes.
His books on politics and foreign policy include:
Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy
The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office
Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama Henry Kissinger and the American Century
Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Détente
Suri’s next book will explore markets and democracy and how nations can be better at both.
Discover more about The College of Liberal Arts and The LBJ School of Public Affairs
Explore Suri's work and our programs in both of The College of Liberal Arts and The LBJ School of Public Affairs.
