Michael Robbins

A fourth-generation New Mexican, Michael Robbins grew up in Albuquerque. He graduated with honors from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, where his dissertation received recognition as the best in its field by the American Political Science Association.

Michael has held prestigious positions, including research fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard University and Research Associate at the Pew Research Center. In 2014, he joined Princeton University as the director and co-principal investigator of Arab Barometer, the largest and longest-standing public opinion survey project in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Throughout his career, Michael has led or overseen hundreds of international surveys, establishing himself as a leading expert in survey methods and data quality. His research on Arab public opinion, political Islam, and political parties has been widely published in respected outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Comparative Political Studies, and The Journal of Democracy. His work and commentary have also been featured by prominent media outlets, including the BBC, NPR, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera.

Michael routinely briefs government officials from the U.S., the U.K., NATO, the EU, the UN, and the World Bank and frequently presents at leading think tanks. He has lived in Spain, Egypt, Jordan, and the West Bank, and is proficient in Spanish and Arabic.

After spending 12 years in Washington, D.C., Michael returned to New Mexico, where he serves on the board of directors at the Lensic Performing Arts Center and the Community Advisory Board at Classical 95.5 KHFM. He became involved with Global Santa Fe upon his return and is actively engaged in its programming. Michael is particularly passionate about developing youth initiatives to provide young New Mexicans with opportunities to engage in international relations and diplomacy.