Past events

Annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Ford Presidential Museum 

Each year, our Ford School community of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends gathers together in the name of President Ford on or near his birthday (July 14!) to socialize, network, and most importantly celebrate what binds us together - our collective Ford School experiences. Wherever you are in the world on July 11, you are invited to join in the fun, share your #FordSpirit, and take part in the Ford50 festivities!   

Join the DEI Team for ice cream and a screening of the iconic 1990 documentary Paris is Burning.

In honor of Juneteenth, please join the Ford School's Center for Racial Justice and DEI team for a virtual workshop facilitated by Professor Angelique M. Davis and Dr. Rose Ernst on racial gaslighting.

Join us for food & refreshments as we celebrate the accomplishments of our graduating Students of Color in Public Policy!

Congratulations, '24 graduates! Let's celebrate your upcoming graduation at Fordie Grad Fair! 

Join Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Ford School alumna, Stacy Dean, as she discusses her career and the challenges to improve nutrition for all Americans.

Fordies, we welcome you to join us for a gathering on faith, spirituality, and public policy. Led by our very own Ford School professor Dr. Ann Lin.

Voting rights activist Stacey Abrams will address the challenges to American democracy, her work to guarantee voter access, and other civil rights battles facing the United States in 2024. 

Democracy around the world is both robust -- two billion people will be able to cast a ballot in 2924 -- and fragile, as threats to the voting process, to the structures of democratic society, and to the voters themselves afflict many nations. 

In this session, five successful academicians from a variety of disciplines will discuss their work and perspectives regarding racial justice and public policy.  

Climate change is often described as a wicked problem, one with many interdependent, changing, and thorny factors to solve. For policymakers, this often means balancing complex and sometimes competing preferences from a range of stakeholders, both responding to those voices and communicating about policies in ways that will resonate with a wide range of audiences. 

A wide-ranging discussion with technologist Alondra Nelson, reflecting on her time in the White House, her role as a social scientist involved in shaping science and technology (and particularly AI), her insights into the policy process, and specifically her work on the open access and AI Bill of Rights initiatives. 

This session will examine innovative policies that promote direct cash transfers and tax credits to low-income families, new mothers, and other sectors of society. 

Cecilia Muñoz will reflect on her long career in social activism and policymaking, and on the challenges the U.S. continues to face regarding immigration and refugee affairs, social inclusion, and the role of public interest technology.   

The opening session of the inaugural Dean's Symposium  -- Policy Innovations for Today -- with a welcome from Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and a keynote address from Cecilia Munoz, national public policy leader and former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.  

Join us for a fireside chat with Charles Luftig, Deputy Director for National Intelligence Policy and Capabilities, as we commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA). Moderated by Javed Ali, this conversation will explore current intelligence and envision a future shaped by advances in technology like open source intelligence, social media, artificial intelligence, and language learning models.

Spring Preview is designed to help admitted master's students get to know our faculty, staff, current students—and each other!

Join the Center for Racial Justice for an inspiring night of conversation with our '23-'24 Visiting Fellows. 

Educator staffing shortages have drawn considerable attention from policymakers and the public in recent years. While much attention is directed towards K-12 teachers, there is growing concern about shortages of substitute teachers because of the negative impact on teachers and administrators when schools regularly have insufficient staff to cover teacher absences and vacancies. 

Two experts with long experience in Middle East policymaking discuss the violence in Palestine and Israel and its broader implications. This event is open to Ford School students, faculty, and staff, and will be streamed live and on-demand.

Join the Center for Racial Justice and the Institute for Research on Women & Gender (IRWG) in welcoming Dr. Moya Z. Bailey, Associate Professor at Northwestern University, founder of the Digital Apothecary, and co-founder of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective for a workshop on misogynoir in education.

The Ford School is sponsoring a film at this year's Ann Arbor Film Festival, which runs through March 31.The film, Strange Culture, is showing at the State Theater at 3pm on Sunday, March 31. Tickets available at the Michigan Theater.

Former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security John Tien discusses how homeland and national security policy gets done and implemented based on his experience across four Administrations: Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden.

As the life-threatening impacts of the climate crisis grow more aggressive each year, the Biden-Harris administration is implementing an all-of-government approach at the scale and speed this urgent situation demands. 

Former United Nations Under-Secretary General and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), will join us to discuss the intricate relationship between health equity and economic resilience in Africa. Dr. Songwe's insights will highlight Africa's role in global power dynamics and strategies for asserting its agency amid evolving economic landscapes.

Although the China Initiative has officially ended in 2022, the hostile climate has not dissipated and scientists of Chinese backgrounds still feel the pressure especially as a proposed House spending bill wants to bring the initiative back. Put in place in 2018 under the Trump administration the China Initiative led to the arrest, intimidation, and forced resignation of faculty on American University campuses. This panel discussion brings together a group of experts who will discuss their personal experiences, the legal dimensions, the costs of the initiative in the realm of scientific and technological advancements, the effects on prospective and current students, and diversity of campus.  

Join Dr. Estelle E. Archibold, the Leadership Initiative and the Center for Racial Justice for this virtual session about restorative justice and its policy implications.