On February 7th, 2024, Professor Monette Zard, PFMH Program Director, interviewed Dr. Carolyn Makinson and Dr. Ron Waldman. Dr. Makinson was the Director of Population and Forced Migration programs at the Mellon Foundation when Mellon awarded the foundational grant to Columbia University to start the PFMH. Dr. Ron Waldman was the first director and led the efforts to establish the program. Their conversation touches on the humanitarian landscape in the 1990s, including the need for greater professionalization, more tailored and applied research and a humanitarian education and research program that could help meet those needs. This constellation of need, vision and opportunity led to the founding of the program. Listen here to learn more about the genesis of the PFMH.