Leadership
Planning Committee
Mark Fisher serves as the Founding Director for AIDC. Mark’s research focuses on the history and future of democratic thought, with a particular emphasis on early attempts to understand and theorize Athenian democracy. Prior to coming to Georgetown, Mark earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and held visiting research fellowships at the University of Oxford and the Freie Universität, Berlin.
Matthew David Hamilton serves as the Managing Director for AIDC. Matthew completed his Ph.D. in Government at Georgetown University in 2025, and his research combines normative Political Theory; work in the history of ideas and of IR; and International Relations Theory to analyze world politics and rethink theories of global justice. Matthew previously earned an M.A. from Princeton Theological Seminary and maintains an interest in Christian political thought.
John Severini serves as the Graduate Director for AIDC. John is a current PhD student at Georgetown University’s department of Government. His research primarily focuses on the role technology plays in war and the impact it has on partnerships between the state and the private sector. John earned an M.P.A. in International Security Policy from Columbia University in 2021. He has previously worked for Columbia’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies as well as for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.