The Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs has announced Lady Theresa May as the center’s inaugural Blue Senior Fellow. She will join the Yale community in spring 2025.

May served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019 — the second woman ever to hold the office. Her premiership marked the culmination of 21 years of continuous service in Parliament, having held a total of 14 ministerial or shadow ministerial posts, serving as the first female chairman of the Conservative Party and the longest-serving Conservative home secretary in more than a century.

In her time as prime minister, May led the UK through some of the of the most consequential events in Britain’s recent geopolitical history. Her tenure included a commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, making the UK the first major global economy to set such a goal; delivery of the formal notification of the UK’s intention to leave the European Union; the establishment of the British Government’s Race Disparity Unit to examine the treatment of people with different backgrounds across public services, in the workplace, and the criminal justice system; and the coordination of responses to multiple incidents of international and domestic terrorism on British soil, including a March 2018 use of a chemical nerve agent for which there was evidence of Russian state culpability.

“We are honored to have Lady May as our inaugural Blue Senior Fellow,” said Phil Kaplan, the Blue Center’s executive director. “Our students are incredibly fortunate that they will have the opportunity to hear first-hand about the exercise of statecraft from someone who has grappled with the most important issues at the highest levels.”

Jim Levinsohn, the dean of the Jackson School, also reflected on the significance of the appointment. “At Jackson, we train leaders in global affairs,” he said. “I cannot think of a better first Senior Fellow for our new Blue Center than Theresa May, who brings with her the experience of a world-class career in service and leadership.”

The Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment advances the interdisciplinary study of statecraft by bringing together leading scholars and practitioners, and supporting work related to national defense, diplomacy, intelligence, and international economic relations. In addition to funding Blue Senior Fellows, the center also funds teaching and research, professorships, and student fellowships. The Center was launched in August 2024.