Chris Stone is Professor of Practice of Public Integrity. Chris has blended theory and practice throughout a four-decade career dedicated to justice reform, good governance and innovation in the public sector, working with officials, advocates, and activists in dozens of countries worldwide.

Prior to joining the Blavatnik School faculty in 2019, Chris served as president of the Open Society Foundations (2012–2017), as Guggenheim Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (2004–2012), as faculty director of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University (2007–2012), and as president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice (1994–2004). He is a graduate of Harvard College, the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge, and the Yale Law School.

At the Blavatnik School of Government, Chris’s work focuses on the rule of law and building cultures of integrity in public institutions. You can view a 30-minute version of his masterclass on Public Corruption Turnarounds here. Chris has led the development of the School’s executive programmes, including co-chairing its Public Leaders Programme and executive programmes for the UK Cabinet Office.

Throughout his career, Chris’s principal focus has been criminal justice reform in countries from the United States and the United Kingdom to Chile, China, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey and more. Chris is currently assisting the National Director of Public Prosecutions in South Africa on strengthening the National Prosecuting Authority.

Early in his career, Chris was a criminal trial attorney, starting as a public defender in Washington, DC, and later co-founding the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. In 2005, he received an honorary OBE for his contributions to criminal justice reform in the United Kingdom.