Only a handful of scholars were concerned with Russian diplomacy and business then, and scholarship on Russia was limited principally to historical studies.
When World War II broke out, Hazard joined the U.S. government and was assigned to the Soviet desk in the Division of Defense Aid Reports.
He became deputy director of the Soviet branch of the Lend-Lease Administration, through which the United States furnished food, machinery and services to its allies.
The following year he was chosen as an expert on Soviet law to assist Justice Robert Jackson in preparing the prosecution of Nazi leaders to be brought before an international tribunal for war crimes.
[3] The John N. Hazard Memorial Fellowship at Columbia's Harriman Institute exists to fund scholars researching Soviet and Russian law.