Rosemary Hollis

In March 2008, Hollis left Chatham House to join City University, London as the new Director of the Olive Tree Scholarship Programme, succeeding Dr. Aimee Shalan. The Olive Tree programme started in 2004 under joint founders Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber and Derek Tullett and was originally an independent charitable trust based at City University (The Olive Tree Educational Trust). The Trust was later dissolved and the programme subsumed by the University. Olive Tree awarded scholarships for exceptional Israeli and Palestinian students to study for an undergraduate degree at City. The students participated in a specially designed parallel programme – in conjunction with their academic studies – in order to promote further understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The scholarship programme was initiated in 2004, and some of its alumni have assumed key roles in their respective communities. One of these alumni, Stav Shaffir, has become the youngest Israeli Knesset member after leading the 2011 Israeli social justice protests. The Olive Tree Programme was wound up in 2016 due to a lack of funding.

In 1990 she returned to the United Kingdom, to become the head of the Middle East programme at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies, a position she held until 1995. She then moved to a similar role at Chatham House, as head of its Middle East programme. In 2005 she became director of research at Chatham House, with overall responsibility for research activity, project formulation, grant applications and the publications of the institute. In 2008 she joined City University, London as the Director of the Olive Tree Programme (2008–2016) and Professor of Middle East Policy Studies (2012–18).

Rosemary Hollis (27 March 1952 – 5 June 2020) was a British political scientist. Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at City University London until her retirement in 2018, Hollis was known for her expertise and scholarship on the relations between the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States with the Middle East. She was formerly the Research Director at Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs).

Rosemary Hollis was born in Dudley, England in 1952. She was educated at the Alice Ottley School, Worcester and graduated from King's College, London, with a BA in History in 1974 and MA in War Studies in 1975. Before moving to the United States in 1980, she held various research positions in the media and commerce in London, having also worked for the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. She gained a PhD in Political Science from George Washington University in Washington, DC, where she was also a lecturer in Political Science and International Affairs (1980–1989).