Letter from the President

Dear ARNOVAns,

It is my great pleasure to introduce Professor Reza Hasmath as ARNOVA’s part-time executive director effective immediately. Reza brings exceptional qualifications and a distinguished record of leadership in nonprofit and civil society research to this vital role. The Board of Directors is very enthusiastic about this appointment and is grateful to the Search Committee—Will Brown (Chair), Emily Barman, and David Campbell—for their great work. 

Reza Hasmath is a Full Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Civil Society. A Trinidadian-Canadian scholar with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, he has held faculty positions at the Universities of Oxford, Melbourne, and Toronto, and served as the 2025 Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. His award-winning research spans ethnic integration, authoritarianism and civil society, China’s global engagement, and ESG governance. Author and editor of nine books with publications in leading journals across multiple disciplines, his work has earned ARNOVA’s Global Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Award (2021) and the President’s Award for Non-Profit Research (2015). He regularly advises government agencies and international organizations and has appeared in over 300 media interviews globally. 

Reza’s deep commitment to advancing nonprofit scholarship, his international perspective, and his proven leadership make him ideally suited to guide ARNOVA through its next chapter. Please join me in welcoming him to this important role. 

Sincerely, 

Chao Guo
President, Board of Directors
ARNOVA