On November 29, 2021, the think tank world lost a star and a champion: James G. McGann, the creator and editor of the famous Go To Think Tank Index and director of the Think Tank and Civil Societies Programme at the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Centre.
The ranking was unusual in the quiet world of policy thinking and making. Until Jim made it public, most think tanks didn’t know they had so much company. It created a circle of institutional camaraderie, expanded our knowledge of each others’ work and of those who were doing cutting edge thinking on new platforms. Jim’s list and ranking transformed the way think tanks were perceived – even by themselves. He made think tanks cool.
Gateway House has made it to the upper echelons of several categories of the Think Tank index since 2014. It became a robust way for us to measure ourselves against our peers.
A year after being featured in the rankings, Gateway House hosted Jim at a roundtable in Mumbai where he led a discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing policy research institutions in the city.
This year, Jim edited a book on The Future of Think tanks and Policy Advice Around the world, to which Gateway House contributed a chapter.
Our think tank world is bereft. We will miss Jim and his enthusiastic promotion of our intellectual contribution to making the world a better place.
Om Shanti.
– Manjeet Kripalani, Executive Director, Gateway House