In Brief | 14/09/2025
Merike Blofield Assumes Directorship of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies
Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield took up her position as Director of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies on 1 September 2025. Her appointment will strengthen the social scientific study of Latin America at the GIGA and deepen our cooperation with the University of Hamburg.
Hamburg, 15 September 2025 – The GIGA Board of Trustees has appointed Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield as Director of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies, with the University of Hamburg assigning her to the GIGA effective 1 September 2025.
With her expertise, Prof. Blofield is a tremendous asset to the Institute’s many research activities on and with Latin America. Her scholarship addresses the conditions under which governments produce more equity-enhancing and effective policies, with a focus on health, social, and family policy in the region. She is currently examining the politics of investing in children as well as policy efforts around addressing violence against women and children. Her collaborative research has recently been published by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, The Lancet, and a number of policy outlets, with Prof. Blofield receiving awards for both her work and institution-building in previous years. Her expertise will strengthen the GIGA Research Programmes “Accountability and Participation” and “Globalisation and Development.” As part of a joint appointment with the University of Hamburg, she also serves as Professor of Political Science with a Focus on Global Health and Social Policy within the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Sciences. Prior to coming to Hamburg in 2020, she was Professor of Political Science and Director of the Gender and Sexuality Studies programme at the University of Miami.
Prof. Blofield takes over the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies from Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos and Prof. Dr. Bert Hoffmann, who had jointly managed it from 2023 through this new appointment. The president of the GIGA, Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach, and the whole executive board are looking forward to working with Prof. Blofield and express their sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Llanos and Prof. Dr. Hoffmann for their outstanding stewardship in the last few years.
Media contact: Verena Schweiger Head of Communications Department Phone: +49 40 42825-770 [email protected]
