History of public policy | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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History of public policy

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Core faculty

Earl Lewis

Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, Afroamerican and African Studies, and Public Policy; Director, Center for Social Solutions
Earl Lewis is the Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, Afroamerican and African Studies, and Public Policy, and the founding director of the U-M Center for Social Solutions. From March 2013-2018, he served as president of The…
Core faculty

Shobita Parthasarathy

Professor of Public Policy; Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy program
Parthasarathy studies the governance of emerging science and technology and the politics of evidence and expertise in policy in comparative and international perspective. Her current research focuses on equity in innovation and innovation policy. She co-hosts The Received Wisdom podcast.
Core faculty

Barry Rabe

J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy
Rabe examines the political feasibility and durability of environmental and energy policy, with a particular emphasis on efforts to address climate change in the U.S. and other federal systems. His most recent books examine the politics of carbon pricing and the limitations of unilateral executive branch policy actions. Current research explores the politics of intensive but short-lived greenhouse gases, such as methane and HFCs. Recent policy engagement includes work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, the Department of Commerce, and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
Core faculty

Joy Rohde

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Rohde is historian who specializes in the relationship between policy knowledge, technology, and American democracy. At Michigan, she is also affiliated with the Department of History, the Science, Technology, and Society Program, and the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program.
Core faculty

Megan A. Stewart

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Megan A. Stewart is an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Her research interests focus on explaining variation in how changes to social, economic, and political…
Core faculty

Celeste M. Watkins-Hayes

Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy; Director, Center for Racial Justice; Jean E. Fairfax Collegiate Professor of Public Policy; University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor; Professor of Sociology; Research and Community Impact Fellow, Anti-Racism Collaborative
Watkins-Hayes is an internationally-recognized scholar and expert widely credited for her research at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and human service institutions, with a special focus on HIV/AIDS; poverty; and race, class, and gender studies. Dr. Watkins-Hayes has published three books, numerous articles in journals and edited volumes, and pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Chicago Magazine.

Ford50

Fifty years ago, 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 proud to...

Center for Racial Justice

Racial justice is the systematic fair treatment of people, regardless of racial background, that results in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone.We seek a world in which people are able to achieve their full potential in life,...
State & Hill

A life of public service, in quotes and pictures

Apr 24, 2024
A Life of Service: Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States 50 years ago. His dedication to public service can be seen throughout his life, as an Eagle Scout, serving in World War II, serving in Congress for 25 years...
News

Highlights from the Dean's Symposium

Apr 21, 2024
Two days of panels, chats, and keynotes focused on examining and seeking solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face in Michigan, in the United States, and across the globe. More than 400 students, faculty, staff, and friends attended in...
News

Stewart receives prestigious APSA book award

Apr 1, 2024
Associate professor and International Policy Center director Megan Stewart will be honored with the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) 2021-2022 Conflict Processes Section’s Best Book Award for her book, Governing for Revolution: Social...
Publication

Policing a neurodiverse world

Feb 20, 2024
When responding to calls related to mental health crises, police should work to change the environments where people with psychiatric disabilities live and work, rather than simply connecting them with medical intervention.Professor David Thacher, a...
State & Hill

Seeking a resilient democracy

Dec 12, 2023
Of all of the recent headlines about U.S. government dysfunction, election denialism, and voter dissatisfaction, one in particular worries Ford School political scientist Jenna Bednar. The New York Times reported in October 2022, “Voters See...
State & Hill

Our new dean, Celeste Watkins-Hayes

Dec 12, 2023
State & Hill sat down with the Ford School’s new dean to reflect on her scholarship, her mentors, and Gerald Ford   State & Hill: Tell us about your intellectual journey to leading the Ford School. Celeste Watkins-Hayes: What you see in my...
State & Hill

Sherry Suttles (MPP ’71): An original IPPSter rides on

Dec 12, 2023
Sherry Suttles (MPP ’71) made history as the first Black woman city manager in the United States. That was a goal Suttles had set for herself soon after graduating in the first class of Master of Public Policy degrees awarded by U-M’s Institute...
Publication

Thacher studies history to inform today's police reform

Oct 27, 2023
Although some may view reducing the harms of policing as a contemporary issue, David Thacher encourages modern reformers to consider the past in the Journal of Criminal Justice. Using original archival research, Thacher examined the use of summons...
News

Meet our new faculty: Mo Torres

Aug 25, 2023
Mo Torres returns to the Ford School (he graduated with his MPP in 2015) as one of six University of Michigan Society of Fellows for a three-year appointment. He will work closely with the Center for Racial Justice. Torres is a historical...
News

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life 

Aug 2, 2023
What are the dynamics of inequity in labor markets? How do we determine appropriate categories for people in a multicultural society?  How is the U.S. approach to ethnicity and nationality different from what they are doing in Europe?  These were...
News

Michigan Heritage Project examines "Professor Ford"

May 18, 2023
The Michigan Heritage Project has examined the legacy of President Gerald Ford's stint as a professor at the University of Michigan.   The full article can be read here. (Additional articles about the Ford legacy can be seen on the Ford School...
State & Hill

Faculty Findings, spring 2023

May 3, 2023
A fractured superpower  States have driven important federal policy changes around voting, civil and reproductive rights, environmental protections, and more. What happens when states take it upon themselves to experiment with energy, trade, and...
News

We must change hearts to achieve equality - Alemu

Mar 19, 2023
What is the best way to combat racism -- change policies or change hearts? That is the question Matthew Alemu (MPP '09, PhD) contends with in an essay for Bridge Detroit.  "Racism resides where society and policy have yet to tackle it directly,...
News

Remembering former Ford School Dean Rebecca Blank

Mar 3, 2023
President Emerita Mary Sue Coleman and Provost Emeritus Paul N. Courant share their Michigan memories of Rebecca M. Blank, dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy from 1999 to 2007. Blank also served in multiple federal roles and was...