William Leahy
MPS Class of 2024, Global Development
- He/him
- Grand challenge: Economic Development in Eurasia
- Where he calls home: New York
- Connect: wdl35 [at] cornell.edu (wdl35[at]cornell[dot]edu)
William Leahy is an MPS student in Global Development at Cornell University with an interest in Eurasian politics and economic development. Originally from a small town near Ithaca, New York, William received a bachelor’s degree in history from SUNY Oneonta, where his studies focused on the British Empire and Soviet policy in Central Asia. During his undergraduate studies, William studied abroad in Saint Petersburg, Russia at Saint Petersburg State University (СПГУ). Influenced by this experience, he pursued a master’s degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (МГИМО), completing the degree in 2022.
William has worked in the United Nations system at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Vienna, Austria and then at the United Nations Development Programme. Throughout his academic career he has traveled to many former USSR republics, where he studied and observed the political, security, and development issues they currently face.