The Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies is pleased to announce that Keough School faculty member Kyle A. Jaros will serve as its interim director, effective July 1, 2026. In addition to his interim appointment, Jaros will continue to serve as associate professor of global affairs with a concurrent appointment in political science.
“Kyle Jaros is a respected scholar whose research on China, urban development and subnational governance reflects the Liu Institute’s commitment to rigorous and globally engaged scholarship,” said Mary Gallagher, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School. “I am grateful for his leadership in this interim role and confident he will build on the institute’s strong foundation, continuing to advance its mission across the university and beyond.”
Jaros, a Liu Institute and Kellogg Institute faculty fellow, researches the politics of urban and regional development, intergovernmental relations, and subnational foreign affairs with a focus on China. His first book, “China’s Urban Champions: The Politics of Spatial Development” (Princeton University Press, 2019), examines the policy logics and political factors driving uneven development in China’s provinces. He is currently completing a co-authored book manuscript on state and local US-China relations, tentatively entitled “Subnational Statecraft: How States and Cities Make and Break US-China Relations.”
Jaros earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the Department of Government at Harvard University and an A.B. in public and international affairs and a certificate in Chinese language and culture from Princeton University. He also holds a graduate certificate in Chinese studies from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies.
Before joining the Keough School in 2020, Jaros was associate professor in the political economy of China at the University of Oxford’s School of Global and Area Studies and previously held a China public policy postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a fellow of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program, a former Visiting Senior Fellow for U.S.-China Subnational Relations at the Truman Center (2024), and a former Wilson China Fellow (2022-2023). Jaros is also a member of the editorial boards of Urban Affairs Review and Studies in Comparative International Development.
Jaros will serve as interim director for up to two years following Michel Hockx, the institute's inaugural director, who is stepping down after 10 years of service.
“In the past decade, under Michel Hockx's leadership, the Liu Institute has built a thriving academic community and has dramatically boosted Notre Dame's engagement with Asia and Asian studies on campus and beyond,” said Jaros. “I'm excited to work collaboratively with faculty fellows, staff members, student affiliates, advisory board members, and external partners to build on this momentum and carry the Liu Institute's mission and strategic plan forward.”
The Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, part of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, promotes awareness, understanding and knowledge of Asia through administering a supplementary major and minor in Asian Studies, supporting student and faculty scholarship, organizing public events, and facilitating interaction and exchanges with partners in Asia. The institute was established by a gift from the RM Liu Foundation that supports the philanthropic activities of Robert and Mimi Liu and their children, Emily and Justin, both Notre Dame graduates.