William Axinn will serve as interim director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center (IPC) beginning on August 1, 2024. Paula Lantz will serve as interim associate director of IPC and focus on overseeing and leading a review of the Ford School’s travel courses.
“I am delighted that Bill and Paula will lead the Ford School’s International Policy Center this year, and continue to advance international interdisciplinary research and experiential learning opportunities for Ford School students,” said Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Dean of the Ford School of Public Policy.
“I’m grateful to outgoing IPC director Megan Stewart for her brilliant leadership of the center this past year, and to our terrific staff team of Dan Ellis and Zalma Valencia for another fine year of excellence in supporting IPC’s international policy work.”
William Axinn is a sociologist and demographer interested in global health equity. His research addresses the relationships among social change, the social organization of families, intergenerational relationships, marriage, cohabitation, fertility, and mental health in the United States and Nepal. He also studies the interrelationships between population and the environment and new techniques for the collection of social science data. He is a research professor at the Institute for Social Research, a professor in the Department of Sociology, a faculty affiliate at the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, and a professor of public policy.
Paula Lantz is the James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy and director of undergraduate programs at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She also is a University Professor of Diversity and Social Transformation and professor of health management and policy in the School of Public Health. Lantz, a social demographer/social epidemiologist, studies the role of public policy in improving population health and reducing social disparities in health.
