Wendy Leutert is one of five recipients of the 2024 Indiana University Bloomington Outstanding Junior Faculty Award. Leutert is assistant professor and GLP-Ming Z. Mei Chair of Chinese Economics and Trade in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.
The award, sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, is the most prestigious campus-level award available to pre-tenure faculty. It is designed to identify the most promising untenured, tenure-track faculty and includes a $15,000 award which may be applied toward expenses related to scientific, scholarly, or artistic activities.
Leutert’s research and teaching interests include political economy, comparative politics, and international relations, with a focus on state-business relations in China and East Asia. Her book, China’s State-Owned Enterprises: Leadership, Reform, and Internationalization, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. To date, Leutert has also authored or co-authored 12 peer-reviewed journal articles and five book chapters, both published and forthcoming.
Leutert has published numerous essays with policy-oriented outlets after arriving at IU, including Foreign Affairs, and been featured as a panelist and speaker with DC-based thinktanks including the Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Atlantic Council. She is routinely featured in international media outlets including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, and others.
According to Hamilton Lugar School Executive Associate Dean David Bosco, “Dr. Leutert is widely viewed as a rising star in political science and Chinese political economy specifically. She possesses the rare ability to amplify her scholarly voice and impact by communicating to a public audience. She excels in policy writing and engagement at the national and state levels.”
As her scholarly and public profile has developed, Leutert’s accomplishments have been recognized by multiple institutions. In 2022, she was one of three scholars nationwide to be awarded the prestigious Emerging Scholars Policy Prize from Foreign Affairs and the University of Pennsylvania Perry World House. After arriving at IU, she received nationally competitive fellowships with the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the National Committee for U.S.-China Relations, and provided input to the reports of the U.S. Congress’s Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
Leutert has also had a direct impact on the state. She serves on the executive board of the non-profit America China Society of Indiana and most recently co-organized “China Strategic Outlook 2022-2027: The Big Picture and Implications for Indiana,” an outreach event in Indianapolis in December 2022 that engaged state officials, businesspeople, and lawyers on China-related issues.
Professor and James and Niroko Gines Department Chair in East Asian Languages and Cultures Ethan Michelson said, “Dr. Leutert has served her department, the Hamilton Lugar School, and IU capably and well. Her record of service and engagement extends beyond campus to IU alumni, communities in Indiana, and the field of political science. She is a talented and dedicated educator who embodies the life-long learning ethos and dedication to the IU community of an outstanding junior faculty member.”
Before joining HLS in 2019, Leutert earned a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University, an M.A. in international relations from Tsinghua University, and a B.A. in political science and philosophy from Wellesley College.
