Biography
Mr. Ferris joined IDI in the fall of 2008 as Vice President of Strategy. His responsibilities include directing new policy initiatives and heading the Institute’s international outreach efforts.
Mr. Ferris earned his BA with distinction in History from Yale University and his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. His doctoral thesis, entitled Egypt, the Cold War, and the Civil War in Yemen, 1962-1966, earned him a Mellon/ACLS Fellowship in 2007, an SSRC Fellowship in 2007, and a second Mellon/ACLS Fellowship in 2008. His research interests include democracy and foreign policy, international politics of the Middle East, Arab strategic culture, Russian and American foreign policy, and Israeli national security. Concurrent with his position at IDI, Mr. Ferris holds a Lady Davis Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he is writing a manuscript on Egyptian foreign policy.
In addition to his academic expertise, Mr. Ferris brings strong leadership experience to IDI. In 2000, he co-founded Marketbee Technologies, an enterprise software company, where he served as director of marketing and product development until 2002. Prior to that, he served five years in the IDF as a medic, combatant, and team leader, attaining the rank of Captain.