Domestic policy | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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Domestic policy

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Emeritus faculty

Mary E. Corcoran

Professor Emerita of Public Policy, Political Science, and Women's and Gender Studies
Mary E. Corcoran is a professor emerita of public policy, political science, and women's studies. Her research focuses on the effects of gender and race discrimination on economic status and earnings, and on professional women's career trajectories.…
Emeritus faculty

Paul N. Courant

Edward M. Gramlich Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Economics and Public Policy
Provost Emeritus Courant has authored half a dozen books and more than six dozen papers covering a broad range of topics in economics and public policy. More recently, his academic work has focused on economic and policy questions relating to universities, libraries and archives, and the effects of new information technologies and other disruptions on scholarship, scholarly publication, and academic libraries.
Emeritus faculty

Alan V. Deardorff

Professor Emeritus of Public Policy
Deardorff’s research focuses on international trade. With Bob Stern, he developed the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade, which has been used to estimate the effects of trade agreements. He is also doing theoretical work in international trade and trade policy. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Labor, State, and Treasury and to international organizations including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank.
Visiting faculty

Lori Lightfoot

Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence
Lori Lightfoot served as Chicago's mayor from 2019-2023. She is the second woman, first Black female and first openly gay person in that role. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot served as senior equity partner in the Litigation and Conflict Resolution…
Faculty by courtesy

Amanda Kowalski

Gail Wilensky Professor of Applied Economics and Public Policy
Kowalski is a health economist who specializes in bringing together experiments, models grounded in context-specific knowledge, and econometric techniques to answer questions that inform current debates in health policy.
Core faculty

Richard L. Hall

Professor of Public Policy and Political Science
Richard L. (Rick) Hall is professor emeritus of political science and public policy. He has published widely on American national institutions, including representation in Congress, interest group influence, campaign finance, congressional oversight, issue advertising, and health politics.
Core faculty

Catherine Hausman

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Hausman is an environmental and energy economist, and some of her recent areas of research include electricity markets and climate change; inequality in pollution exposure; and the natural gas sector's role in methane leaks. She is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research.
Core faculty

Joshua Hausman

Associate Professor of Public Policy; Associate Professor of Economics (by courtesy)
Hausman’s research interests are in economic history and macroeconomics with a focus on the U.S. economy in the 1930s and the Japanese economy today. He is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Core faculty

Brian A. Jacob

Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy; Professor of Public Policy, Economics, and Education
Jacob is co-director of the Youth Policy Lab. His primary fields of interest are labor economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education. Jacob's current research focuses on urban school reform, with a particular emphasis on standards and accountability initiatives.
Core faculty

John Leahy

Allen Sinai Professor of Macroeconomics
John Leahy is the Allen Sinai Professor of Macroeconomics, a joint appointment between the Ford School and the Department of Economics. Much of his work considers the psychological side of consumerism, analyzing individuated, decisionmaking…
Core faculty

Jeffrey D. Morenoff

Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement, Professor of Public Policy and Sociology, Director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP)
Morenoff's research interests include neighborhood environments, inequality, crime and criminal justice, the social determinants of health, racial/ethnic/immigrant disparities in health and antisocial behavior, and methods for analyzing multilevel and spatial data.
Core faculty

Don Moynihan

J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy
Donald Moynihan is the Ford School’s J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy. Previously he served as Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy Chair of Public Policy and the director of the La Follette School at the…
Core faculty

Natasha Pilkauskas

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Pilkauskas is a social demographer who studies the social safety net, children's living arrangements, and economic insecurity. Pilkauskas' work considers how social policy might improve the developmental and life trajectories of children living in poverty.
Core faculty

Kaitlin T. Raimi

Associate Professor of Public Policy; Faculty Associate in Psychology; Faculty Associate in Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research
Raimi is a social psychologist focused on climate change beliefs and policy support. She studies how people compare themselves to others, how adopting one pro-environmental behavior affects later action, and how communication affects understanding and support for climate policy and technology.
Core faculty

David E. Thacher

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Planning
As an associate professor of public policy and urban planning, Thacher’s research draws from philosophy, history, and the interpretive social sciences to develop and apply a humanistic approach to policy research. Most of his work has focused on criminal justice policy, where he has undertaken studies of order maintenance policing, the local police role in homeland security, community policing reform, the distribution of safety and security, prisoner re-entry, and criminal justice discretion.
Core faculty

Justin Wolfers

Professor of Public Policy and Economics (on sabbatical leave)
Wolfers is an economist with broad policy-related interests and experience. He is also affiliated with the NBER, Brookings and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is a contributing columnist for the New York Times and host of the “Think Like An Economist” podcast. He is a popular teacher and author of a leading economics textbook.

Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy

The Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy advances research and policy solutions, and works with policymakers and stakeholders to promote a more inclusive, just society for all. The collaborative consists of four pillars: Kohn Professors, Kohn...

Service to Service

National Service to Service InitiativeVeterans and military families seeking careers in public service now have greater access to graduate education and career development support through Service to Service, a national initiative led by the Volcker...

Ford50

Fifty years ago, in 1974, at a time of great division and turbulence in the U.S., Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States.President Ford's legacy is very much alive here at the Ford School of Public Policy, and we are...
News

Empowering bureaucrats helps governments and citizens

Mar 31, 2025
Empowered bureaucrats can make decisions that will lead to better and more efficient service for citizens, according to Dan Honig, author of “Mission Driven Bureaucrats: Empowering People To Help Government Do Better.”  In a Policy Talk at the Ford...
In the Media

Moynihan says "anti-DOGE" efforts boosted efficiency in Pennsylvania

Mar 27, 2025 Route 50
States have varying approaches to boosting government efficiency. Route 50 turned to the Ford School's Don Moynihan to analyze Pennsylvania's method of increasing efficiency after they recognized their state's processing systems fell behind other...
In the Media

DOGE cuts are hurting Social Security benefit distributions - Herd

Mar 27, 2025 TIME
In a recent article from TIME Magazine, the Ford School's Pamela Herd was quoted as an expert on public policy as the network searched for an explanation on delayed Social Security benefits. Herd stated, "People are waiting for hours to get through...
News

Morenoff calls for Michigan state prison reform

Mar 23, 2025
The Ford School's Jeff Morenoff advocated for legislation that would reduce long sentences for incarcerated people in Michigan. In an opinion piece published in the Detroit Free Press, Morenoff explained that Michigan's average prison sentence...
In the Media

We have too much faith in the law - Moynihan

Mar 23, 2025 Financial Times
Current government operations under the Trump administration are pointing to signs of democratic backsliding. The Ford School's Don Moynihan has stated that Americans have put too much faith in the law. Quoted in an article from the Financial Times,...
In the Media

The Trump administration is erasing DEI from history - Moynihan

Mar 22, 2025 The Daily Beast
The Ford School's Don Moynihan spoke with The Daily Beast and commented on the removal of government history from various agency websites, specifically targeting topics involving DEI or POC and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. "It's this sort of...
In the Media

Stange comments on cuts to education research funding

Mar 21, 2025 Bridge Michigan
Following the recent executive order designed to dismantle the Department of Education, the Ford School's Kevin Stange spoke with Bridge Michigan about what this means for education research. Strange shared that his biggest concern is the fate of...