Blair to Teach at Yale University

Tony Blair is to take up a senior academic post in the autumn at one of America's most prestigious universities teaching politics and religion.

Yale confirmed yesterday he is to join the schools of management and divinity, at the campus in New Haven, Connecticut.

He will combine his work at Yale with his duties as a special envoy to the Quartet, an international body committed to peace in the Middle East.

He is to spend part of each month in London and part in New Haven.

His work with the Quartet - which represents the United Nations, the US, the European Union and Russia - takes up about ten days a month. Sources close to Blair say that he is taking on an enormous work burden and will be tremendously over-committed in the coming year.

The deans of the Yale schools of management and divinity are in discussion with Blair about how much time he will spend at the university.

Professor Richard Levin, president of Yale, said: "The appointment of Mr. Blair provides a tremendous opportunity for our students and our community. As the world continues to become increasingly inter-dependent, it is essential that we explore how religious values can be channeled toward reconciliation rather than polarization."

He added: "Mr Blair has demonstrated outstanding leadership in these areas and is especially qualified to bring his perspective to bear. We are honored that he is planning to join the Yale community."

Blair and his then chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, sounded out the London School of Economics in 2006 about setting up a school of government but backed off after resistance from staff and students over his role in the Iraq war.

Blair's close links with President George Bush and his support for the 2003 Iraq invasion are less controversial in the US than in Britain.

Yale has strong ties with Bush and his father, both graduates. Blair's son Euan is an undergraduate at the university.

Blair, who is in the US and is due to return to the UK next week, saw Bush in Washington on Tuesday.

Yale had not been planning to announce his new post until later this year but brought forward a statement after being contacted by the Guardian.

His decision to teach religion as well as politics confirms how important his Christianity was during his years in Downing Street. Fearful that it could turn off some voters, he played it down in the run-up to the 1997 general election and the early years of his premiership.

He is to set up a Blair Faith Foundation, based in London, before heading to the US for the autumn term. The foundation is intended to promote understanding between Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and look at the role of religion in the modern world.The new body was inspired by the Clinton Foundation, which raises money for the developing world.

Yale said that he will teach a seminar and be involved in other events round the campus, all related to examining issues of faith and globalisation related to his Faith Foundation. While at Downing Street, he read the Koran to try to better understand the Muslim world in the aftermath of 9/11.

His post at Yale is the Howland Distinguished Fellowship, created in 1915 for a "citizen of any country in recognition of some achievement of marked distinction in the field of literature or fine arts or the science of government." Among those who have been Howland Distinguished Fellows are the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, journalist Sir Alistair Cooke and stateswoman Indira Gandhi.