Professor Virginia Haufler is a professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. She received dual B.A. degrees in International Relations and in Russian Language and Literature from the Pennsylvania State University. She received her Ph.d. in Government from Cornell University.  She is Director of the Global Communities Living-Learning Program, an undergraduate global studies program. She is an associate of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, and a member of the Faculty Advisory Board for the Center for the Study of Business Ethics, Regulation and Crime at the University. Her research focuses on the globalization of business and the challenges of global governance, particularly the dynamics of private regulatory systems and corporate social responsibility. She has been a Visiting Fellow at University College London, University of California Irvine, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, the National University of Singapore, Budapest University, and Nankai University, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She has advised a number of US and international organizations and non-profits.