A distinguished cohort of five new faculty affiliates has strengthened the Ford School's connection to the Law School and has built up its expertise in health and environmental policy as well as demography in rapidly changing China. The new appointments include Helen Levy, who teaches health economics. Most recently, Levy was at the center of the healthcare initiative in Washington when she served as a senior economist on President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors.The other affiliates are:
- Jill Horwitz, a professor of law whose interests include health and nonprofit law.
- Ted Parson, whose research as a law professor examines international environmental policy.
- Yu Xie, who studies the social changes sweeping over China as a professor of sociology and statistics.
- Jeffrey Smith, an economics professor whose research centers on experimental and non-experimental methods for the evaluation of interventions.