Former secretary of state and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has been hired as a professor at Columbia University in New York, where she will instruct students on public affairs and global politics, following her long career.
The university’s president, Lee C. Bollinger, announced the decision on Thursday, saying the former politician would be appointed “professor of practice” at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs beginning in February.
Her work will cover “a variety of major initiatives, especially those focusing on global politics and policy and on supporting female leaders,” Bollinger added, also noting she will serve as a presidential fellow at Columbia World Projects, with a focus on “renewing democracy and advancing efforts for effective engagement of women and youth.”
Clinton herself later commented on the appointments in a social media post, hailing the university for “helping to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges” and for its “commitment to educating the next generation of policy leaders.”
“Thrilled to join the community,” she said.
Serving as secretary of state between 2009 and 2013 under then-President Barack Obama, Clinton previously represented New York as a US senator, and was first lady to President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. A longtime Democrat, she adopted a number of hawkish positions during her time in office, including strong advocacy for the 2011 overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose murder at the hands of US-backed rebels helped to plunge the country into chaos and violence that has continued to this day.
After losing to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential contest, Clinton was among the most vocal proponents of the discredited ‘Russiagate’ conspiracy theory, which alleged that Moscow colluded with Trump to hijack the election using ‘fake news’ and social media trolls. She remains a harsh critic of the former president, and continues to insist the race was stolen from her.