Public event

David R. Harris is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He leads the Office of Human Services Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). About the Lecture Harris shares reflections from his six months as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy.

The Algebra Project was founded in 1982 by a Harlem-born and Harvard-educated Civil Rights' leader, Dr. Robert P. Moses through the use of his MacArthur Fellowship award. AP's unique approach to school reform intentionally develops sustainable, student-centered models by building coalitions of stakeholders within the local communities, particularly the historically underserved population.

Abstract The case for a national effort to create core standards grows stronger by the day. Currently, 50 states have 50 standards, and most states are setting the bar as low as possible in order to comply with the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements of NCLB. Half the states have set fourth-grade reading benchmarks so low that they fall beneath even the most basic level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Abstract: New investments in 'green' power are essential for mitigating the impacts of global climate change. While wind power is now considered both technologically mature and economically feasible, it faces bitter opposition from local communities on the grounds that wind turbines amount to visual pollution. This presentation will examine the role that visual imagery is playing in policy debates about the siting of new wind farms.

• Mary C. Waters is the M.E. Zukerman Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. Learn more... • Christina Paxson is a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, and Director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University. Sponsored by the National Poverty Center

Jointly sponsored by the National Poverty Center, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan and the Economic Research Service, U.S.

featuring William Julius Wilson, Harvard University Keynote speaker for the Interdisciplinary Group on Poverty and Inequality conference 'Emerging Issues in Poverty and Inequality' March 6, 2009 4:00 - 5:30PM Rackham Auditorium 915 East Washington Street Ann Arbor, MI There is no admission fee for this lecture and refreshments will be provided.

Global Policy Perspectives Symposium: How Well Has South Africa Done Since Apartheid?

Pablo Suarez is the Associate Director of Programs, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and a consultant to the Environment Finance Group, United Nations Development Programme. His work as researcher and consultant investigates the integration of climate information into decision making for reducing vulnerability, both at community level and through national and global policies.

Naomi OreskesProfessor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego Co-Sponsored by the University of Michigan Science, Technology & Society Program and School of Natural Resources and Environment 4:00-5:30pm in the Betty Ford Classroom (1110 Weill Hall) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Free and open to the public. Susan Ware, historian and author, is an acclaimed biographer of Amelia Earhart, Molly Dewson, Mary Margaret McBride and other significant figures in women's history.

Free and open to the public. Registration required. Refreshments provided. Mistinguette Smith of the Black/Land Project will spend the month of October at the University of Michigan's Center for the Education of Women (CEW). While in residence as the 2011 Twink Frey Visiting Social Activist, Smith will interview black women in Michigan -- a leading state in dealing with post-industrial land issues -- about their relationship to the land. Smith will participate in two public events on the UM–Ann Arbor campus as well as one at the Charles H.

Sultan Al Qassemi is a 33-year-old scholar, columnist, and influential Twitter commentator. TIME Magazine says he's "shaping the conversation" on events unfolding in the Middle East. NPR says he "wrote the first draft of Middle East history in short sentences tapped out on his computer and his cell phone."

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. About the lecture Compared with any other nation, the U.S. spends far more on medical care and seemingly gets far less in return than other nations (as measured by such things as infant mortality and longevity). We also have abundant evidence that much of our spending is wasteful, in the sense that regions within the U.S.

Robert B. Zoellick became the 11th president of The World Bank Group on July 1, 2007.

With Gary Burtless, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution and the Ford School's Susan M. Dynarski, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Education. Schedule: 6:00-7:00 p.m. lecture 7:00-8:30 p.m.

President Ford waves to the crowd at the Farewell Ceremony for the Montreal-bound U.S. Olympic Team in July 1976.Don't miss out on the second annual Worldwide Ford School Spirit Day, coming this July to a city near you. In the spirit of this summer's Olympic Games, we encourage you to gather together and celebrate your Ford School pride, blue and gold style.

Paul Krugman is an economist and prolific writer who divides his energies among many pursuits: he is professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, a centenary professor at the London School of Economics, and, perhaps, his best-known job, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. Krugman was recently honored for his work on global trade patterns by winning the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

The Ford School welcomes human rights scholar Alejandro Castillejo-Cuéllar, associate professor and chair of Anthropology Department at the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

Juan R.I. Cole, Professor of Middle East and South Asian History, University of Michigan. Professor Cole has written extensively about modern Islamic movements in Egypt, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. Since the 2002 launch of his weblog, 'Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion,' Cole has become a prominent media commentator and has published political writings in The Guardian, the San Jose Mercury News, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Nation.

Lieutenant General David Petraeus, Commander of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth. General Petraeus served in Iraq as the first commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command – Iraq from June 2004 to September 2005, during which he was responsible for helping organize, train, and equip Iraq 's security forces. He previously commanded the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Former President of MIT Charles M. Vest will deliver the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation lecture October 12, at 3:30 p.m. in the Michigan Ballroom. The lecture is titled 'Improving the U.S. Intelligence Community – Lessons from Iraq, Libya, and Elsewhere.' The talk is part of Dr. Vest's visit to the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, where he is the Towsley Policymaker in Residence. The Towsley Policymaker in Residence program at the Ford School brings a policymaker to campus for an extended period of time to teach, write, and talk with faculty and students.

Kerwin Kofi Charles Lectures Steans Family Professor at the Harris School, University of Chicago Scholar in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Lectures are co-sponsored by the National Poverty Center.

Allan Stam, U-M Professor of Political Science and Faculty Associate at the Center for Political Studies, will discuss the genocide, civil war, vendetta killings and random violence that took place in Rwanda in 1994. In their recent NSF-funded work, Stam and his colleagues drew from a number of data sources, and their conclusions call into question much of the conventional wisdom about the the violence.

Please Join U.S. Representative John Dingell to Discuss Health Care Reform in the 111th Congress

Free and open to the public. Auditorium doors will open at 3:30 PM on March 19. This event will be live web-streamed; a link to the web-stream will be posted here on the day of the event at least 30 minutes prior to the start time.

U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel is a Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is Chairman of the Atlantic Council and a Member of the Secretary of Defense's Defense Policy Board.

Pharmacogenomic research offers the potential benefits of personalized medicine and targeted therapies, but it also raises the risk of reinforcing racial differences and stereotypes. Will pharmacogenomics increase the importance of race in American society? This panel explores how racial concepts and categories are influencing scientific, medical, and industrial development in this arena.

Panelists: John Gallagher, Director, Author, Writer, Detroit Free Press "Land Abandonment" Avis C. Vidal, Professor of Urban Planning, Department of Urban Studies & Planning, Wayne State University "Land Development" Moderator: Reynolds "Ren" Farley, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts University of Michigan Institute for Social Research