News & Events
Announcing the 2026–2027 Moynihan Senior Fellows
May 5, 2026
The Moynihan Center has named fifteen writers, scholars, and practitioners to its 2026–2027 cohort of Senior Fellows: twelve Public Scholars and three Distinguished Practitioners
Their projects range from urban transit affordability to community development in the Bronx, from disability and public life to the future of major philanthropy, from gender and global security to the ideological challenges of liberal democracy. As Senior Fellows, they will engage in the weekly Moynihan Seminar at City College and join the Center’s Society of Fellows.
Moynihan Public Scholars
- Sohrab Ahmari, US Editor, UnHerd
- Elmira Bayrasli, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Interruptrr
- Victoria Diaz Garcia, Inter-Agency Coordination Specialist, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
- Nicole Gelinas, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
- Emily Greenhouse, Editor, The New York Review of Books
- Nikhil Kumar, Executive Editor, TIME
- Zachariah Mampilly, Marxe Endowed Chair of International Affairs, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College
- Yadira Ramos-Herbert, Mayor, City of New Rochelle
- Aaron Retica, Editor-at-Large, The New York Times
- Noah Rosenblum, Associate Professor, NYU School of Law
- Ian Rowe, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and Cofounder, Vertex Partnership Academies
- Bhaskar Sunkara, President, The Nation
Moynihan Distinguished Practitioners
- Howard Husock, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
- Julie Sandorf, Retired President, Charles H. Revson Foundation
- Alberto Spektorowski, Retired Professor of Political Science, Tel Aviv University
"Senator Moynihan's career was built on the conviction that serious ideas belong in public life and that constructive engagement across lines of difference is how a democracy thinks. The Society of Fellows is our attempt to honor that conviction in practice. We invite people who take ideas seriously and who are willing to test them against others who see the world differently, and we are proud to welcome the 2026–2027 cohort into that work," said Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, Executive Director of the Moynihan Center.
“The Colin Powell School was founded on the conviction that civic leadership grows from deep engagement with public ideas—and that CCNY students, many of whom come from communities historically excluded from power, bring valuable insights to that work. The Moynihan Center puts that belief into practice. Each year, our undergraduate Fellows learn alongside accomplished writers, scholars, and public servants, contributing their lived experience to the conversation. That is civic leadership education at its best,” said Marc Ostfield, Dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.
"What sets the Moynihan Society of Fellows apart is the diversity of viewpoints in the room: ideological, professional, and experiential. This cohort includes a sitting mayor, editors from some of the most influential publications in the world, scholars pushing at the boundaries of their fields, and senior practitioners working in international institutions, philanthropy, and public policy. That range makes for conversations that are unpredictable and, therefore, also generative," said Michael Miller, Managing Director of the Moynihan Center.
The cornerstone of both fellowships is the weekly Moynihan Seminar, which creates a rare space where intellectual rigor meets open dialogue, bringing together fellows, faculty, and invited guests from diverse professional and ideological backgrounds for constructive engagement across lines of difference.
Incoming Fellows described what draws them to the seminar:
“Public scholarship is not simply a matter of intervening in political and social debates, but also strengthening the civic foundations that make meaningful debate possible in the first place. A functioning democratic society depends on spaces where disagreements can be productive, and where arguments begin not from moral certitude but from an effort to understand complexity,” said Bhaskar Sunkara.
“The fellowship will permit me to expand my cross-partisan projects and connections, and to share what I’ve learned about how to get things done across profound ideological differences, not least with the civic leaders in the seminar room,” said Sohrab Ahmari.
"I bring the perspective of a municipal executive working to translate ideas into practice in polarized environments, and I benefit from testing my assumptions alongside scholars and practitioners from different disciplines and viewpoints," said Yadira Ramos-Herbert.
“Building strong communities, delivering tangible results based on high expectations of ourselves and our partners, and working with grace and dignity in partnership with adversaries to make progress—these are the lessons that guided my work for over four decades and that I will bring to the Moynihan Seminar,” said Julie Sandorf.
"I believe that we are living through a generational reconsideration of the American democratic project, as has happened from time to time in American history. I would like to help inform that reconsideration. I take inspiration from great public-facing scholars of the past, including Hannah Arendt, Raymond Aron, and James Baldwin, who produced rigorous, impactful work that was no less brilliant for being accessible," said Noah Rosenblum.
The Moynihan Public Scholars and Distinguished Practitioner Fellowships take their name and inspiration from Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, whose career bridged rigorous scholarship and sustained public engagement.