Robert Gesualdo Cantelmo is a councilmember for the City of Ithaca, an associate director for the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and a PhD candidate in Government at Cornell University.

On the Common Council, Robert represents the Fifth Ward, which includes Fall Creek and Cornell Heights. He chairs the City Administration Committee, which oversees the budget, public finance, workforce environment, intergovernmental relations, rules, and human resources. He also serves on the City’s Special Committee on Public Safety.

At the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Robert leads the project on democratic threats and resilience with Faculty Fellow Kenneth Roberts. He also directs proposal development and program assessment for the Center. His dissertation on the political economy of conflict explores how the cost of war impacts its causes, conduct, and consequences. While in residence as a PhD student, Robert also worked as a research fellow with the Einaudi Center’s Peace and Conflict Studies program and as an instructor in the Department of Government.

Prior to Cornell, Robert worked in the Washington, DC nonprofit and think tank community. He lives in Cornell Heights with his wife, two children, and Corgi George.