Biography

Johanna Mair is the Director of the School of Transnational Governance (STG) at the European University Institute (EUI). A leading social scientist, she also serves as Professor of Organisation, Strategy, and Leadership (on leave) at the Hertie School in Berlin. Her research examines how organisations and institutions innovate to address complex societal challenges, with a particular focus on social innovation, governance, democracy, and sustainable development.

Mair’s award-winning scholarship, published in leading academic journals, has advanced understanding of how “organising for society” can generate solutions to inequality, poverty, and institutional transformation. She has served as Co‑Director of the Global Innovation for Impact Lab at Stanford University and has held academic appointments at INSEAD, IESE Business School, and the Harvard Kennedy School. She received the Progress Medal from the Society for Progress for pioneering research on social entrepreneurs and social innovation and was recognised by the Aspen Institute as a Faculty Pioneer for her contributions to education in this field.

Beyond academia, Mair has advised the European Commission, the OECD, and several national governments, and serves on the advisory boards of major philanthropic and civil society organizations.

As Director of the STG, she is committed to cultivating an interdisciplinary and globally connected community that bridges research and policy practice, and to preparing future leaders to address Europe’s most pressing transnational challenges.