Francis Fukuyama Keynote Speaker

Leading expert on democratisation and global political economy
Former adviser to the US Government
Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Francis Fukuyama's Biography

Prof. Francis Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and a faculty member of FSI’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). He is also Director of Stanford’s Masters in International Policy Program, and a professor (by courtesy) of Political Science.

Dr. Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man, has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His newest book, In the Realm of the Last Man: A Memoir, will be released in September 2026.

Francis received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science. He was a member of the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation, and of the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State. From 1996-2000 he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Professor of Public Policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, and from 2001-2010 he was Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He served as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2001-2004.

Dr. Fukuyama holds honorary doctorates from Connecticut College, Doane College, Doshisha University (Japan), Kansai University (Japan), and Aarhus University (Denmark), and the Pardee Rand Graduate School. He is a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rand Corporation, the Board of Governors of the Pardee Rand Graduate School, the Board of Trustees of Freedom House, and the Board of the Volcker Alliance. He is a member of the American Political Science Association and the Council on Foreign Relations

He brings unmatched authority on democracy, governance, and global order, drawing on decades of scholarship and policy experience at Stanford, RAND, and the US Department of State to help leaders understand long-term political and institutional change.
He connects big ideas in political economy, development, and international relations to real-world implications for governments, businesses, and civil society navigating instability and democratic strain.
He offers historically grounded, intellectually rigorous insights that help senior audiences make sense of geopolitical risk, institutional trust, and the future of liberal democracy.
His talks equip executives and policymakers to think more clearly about power, legitimacy, and social cohesion in an era of polarization, populism, and global uncertainty.