The University of Toronto has enticed internationally respected academic and author Michael Ignatieff to return home to take on a prestigious post.

Ignatieff will leave Harvard University to serve as fellow of the Munk Centre for International Studies at U of T.

He will teach an undergraduate political science course on human rights and intervention, and deliver a series of public lectures at the school.

Ignatieff served at Harvard University as a professor of human rights. Previously he held teaching posts at Cambridge, Oxford, the University of California and the London School of Economics.

There have been rumours in political circles in recent months that Ignatief has his sights set on the leadership of the federal Liberal Party.