Korbel ranked 12th best place in the world to earn a master’s degree in international relations.
Korbel ranked 20th in the world for the best undergraduate degree in international studies.
Korbel ranked 12th best place in the world to earn a master’s degree in international relations.
Korbel ranked 20th in the world for the best undergraduate degree in international studies.
From our founding sixty years ago, the Korbel School has been a leader in the field of international affairs, preparing generations of students for purposeful careers in public service.
Today, our mission is more important than ever. The great issues of our time—whether about security, the economy, climate change, social justice, or democracy—demand fresh thinking and bold leadership, the ability to imagine new solutions, and the skill to make them happen. That’s what we do at the Korbel School.
Through our teaching, scholarship, and direct engagement with practitioners, we are a community working to make the world more secure, equitable, sustainable, just and inclusive.
We are distinctive among schools of international and public affairs for our deep commitment to the student experience. At Korbel, our students truly have our attention. Through small classes, mentored research, and meaningful experiences outside the classroom, we provide hands-on training to prepare our students to think creatively and act effectively on the issues they care about most.
Our faculty’s research is distinctive too, at once highly influential in the world of academia and in the world of practice. Having myself worked in Washington, I believe being outside the DC Beltway is a real advantage. We have enough distance from the daily fray to allow us to see the big picture, while our engagement with practitioners grounds us in the realities they face. And our students often collaborate closely with faculty members on research projects, gaining first-hand experience and leveraging our faculty's extensive networks through internships, travel courses, and other immersive opportunities.
I am so proud of our community: our dedicated staff, our brilliant faculty, our committed students, our global alumni network of more than 7,000+ graduates, and the many friends of the school. They are the reason we are ranked 12th in the world for master’s programs and 20th among undergraduate degrees in international affairs!
Oh, and one more thing. We get to live and learn in Denver, one of the most vibrant, heathy and beautiful places in the world! We hope you join us and experience all that Korbel has to offer.
Frederick “Fritz” Mayer
Dean and Professor
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Frederick "Fritz" Mayer is the Dean of the Korbel School, a position he has held since 2019. During his tenure, Dean Mayer has prioritized education and engaged scholarship to address the world’s most pressing challenges, elevating the Korbel School to be ranked 12th globally among graduate programs in international affairs. He has led the development of several key initiatives, including the master’s program in Global Environmental Sustainability and the launch of the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy. In collaboration with faculty, staff, and students, Dean Mayer is now leading the formation of "Korbel 2030," a strategic vision designed to solidify the Korbel School’s role as a leader in solutions-oriented research and education for the next generation of global leaders.
Dean Mayer’s scholarly interests include economic globalization and the role of storytelling in politics and collective action. He has published two single-authored books, four educational publications, and numerous widely cited articles and chapters. Before joining the University of Denver, Dean Mayer served as Associate Dean at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he was also Professor of Public Policy, Political Science and the Environment. Prior to academic life, he worked as foreign policy advisor to former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. In addition, Dean Mayer has a long track record of impactful professional service, including current roles as chair of the Denver Council on Foreign Relations, member of the Academic Alliance for AI Policy, and founder of The Colorado Project, a statewide platform for deliberation focused on challenging issues affecting Colorado.
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