Theodore Harvey Moran

Theodore (Ted) Harvey Moran, emeritus professor at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and a leading scholar of global trade, international business, and foreign direct investment, died on Sunday, April 27, 2025. He was 81.

Dr. Moran held the Marcus Wallenberg Chair in International Business. At the School of Foreign Service, he taught for decades and directed research at the intersection of international economics, business, and public policy. He was the founder of the Karl F. Landegger Program in International Business Diplomacy, serving as its director from 1978 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2020. Specifically, Moran pioneered the practice of training foreign students in the ways of Western business so that they could more readily work for multinational corporations, including in their native countries.

Over his career, Moran authored more than three dozen books and major publications. His work addressed political risk management, globalization, and the role of foreign direct investment in economic development. Notable titles include Outward Foreign Direct Investment and U.S. Exports, Jobs, and R&D: Implications for U.S. Policy (2013); Foreign Direct Investment and Development: Launching a Second Generation of Policy Research (2011); Three Threats: An Analytical Framework for the CFIUS Process (2009); Harnessing Foreign Direct Investment for Development: Policies for Developed and Developing Countries (Center for Global Development, 2006); International Political Risk Management: Exploring New Frontiers (World Bank, 2005); Beyond Sweatshops: Foreign Direct Investment, Globalization, and Developing Countries (Brookings Institution, 2002); Foreign Investment and Development (1998); and Multinational Corporations and the Politics of Dependence: Copper in Chile (1974).

Dr. Moran was known for his courses "Business and Investment Negotiations" and "Globalization: Challenges for Developed Countries." In 2012, he led Georgetown’s first foray into online education by creating one of its earliest massive open online courses (MOOC), Globalization’s Winners and Losers, which enrolled over 35,000 students worldwide.

Before joining Georgetown, Dr. Moran taught at Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, and Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. Early in his career, he served on the Policy Planning staff at the U.S. Department of State from 1977 to 1978, focusing on energy policy, investment, economic negotiations, military, intelligence, and security issues related to the Persian Gulf. He also headed a U.S. negotiating team to Brazil and was the principal in U.S.-Japan policy planning talks in Tokyo (Nikko). He returned to government service from 1993 to 1994 as Senior Advisor for Economics at the State Department, shaping discussions on trade, finance, technology, energy, and environmental policy during the period of the NAFTA and Uruguay Round negotiations.

Moran was Director of the Pew Economic Freedom Fellows Program at Georgetown from 1994 to 1999, training senior officials from former Soviet republics, Eastern Europe, and Asia in market economics and trade policy.

In addition to his academic work, Dr. Moran served as a consultant to the United Nations, various governments, and the international business community. He was appointed Counselor to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank, chaired the Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards at the National Academy of Sciences, and was appointed to the board of the Consumers for World Trade Educational Foundation. He also advised the U.S. National Intelligence Council on international business practices. He was a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former fellow at the Center for Global Development.

Moran earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1965 and his PhD in government and political science in 1971. Having trained as a midshipman in the ROTC program at Harvard, he went on to serve in the U.S. Navy as a commissioned officer from 1966 to 1968. He was born in 1943 in Lima Ohio and grew up in Springfield Ohio with siblings Susan, David, and Tom. He prepared at Western Reserve Academy and was a winning wrestler as well as an avid golfer and tennis player.

Known for clear thinking and logical analyses informed by a subtle wit, and for his mentorship and dedication to effective teaching, Moran influenced generations of students and colleagues across the globe. His work helped shape modern understanding of international investment, trade, and economic development. A dedicated philanthropist, Moran gave generously to many causes in his own community and worldwide, supporting education, public health, and hunger prevention.

He is survived by daughter Grace and sons Rob and James, and four grandchildren, Willa, Zoe, Romeo, and Harlow. He was formerly married to Jo Ann Hoeppner Moran Cruz and Jeri Lynne Jensen.

Moran will be missed not only by his family but also by his many friends, colleagues, and former students around the world.