Bess Rothenberg

Bess Rothenberg received her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Virginia in 2002 after completing a Fulbright Doctoral Fellowship at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Her dissertation compared American and German conceptions of patriotism and their implications for international relations.

Rothenberg now works at the International Women's Health Coalition as the Senior Program Officer for Africa. She oversees a program of grants and professional partnerships with local organizations in Cameroun, Nigeria, and Southern Africa, all working to realize sexual and reproductive rights and health. Her previous work at American Jewish World Service and the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University supported grassroots human rights activists from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Before this, Bess was an assistant professor of sociology at Clemson University where she taught and researched global inequality, gender, and social justice.

An American citizen, she is hoping to establish German citizenship as well.