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In this conversation, Paul Abbate, Associate Deputy Director of the FBI, and David Levy, Vice President of Amazon Web Services, will discuss some of the challenges in addressing current cybersecurity threats, formulating policy, and calibrating responses. 

A Ford School community commemoration of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and others.

This Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture will examine the nexus between labor rights and trade—a crucial topic as U.S. and global trade arrangements are being renegotiated. It will feature a conversation between two experts who have long worked to advance worker’s rights in the context of global trade—Dr. Bama Athreya, a visiting policy expert at the Weiser Diplomacy Center, and Ford School Professor of Practice Sander Levin. 

Join Domestic Policy Corps (DPC) and the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) for a panel discussion with a generation of Michigan governor transition leaders from 1991 to today.

The U.S. Office of Financial Research and the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law, and Policy will bring together regulators, policymakers, lawyers, economists, financial institutions, investors, financial technology companies, and experts on data science, cybersecurity, and finance.

The rebirth of Detroit is dependent on a multitude of factors including issues related to urban infrastructure, the revitalization of neighborhoods, and beyond. Critical to this rebirth is investment in the city. For the city administration, this investment means being able to collect sufficient tax revenues to turn on streetlights, police neighborhoods, replace infrastructure, and finance other projects. Unfortunately, one consequence of the challenges faced by the city has been a culture of non-payment of the taxes owed. Over the last three years, the Master of Accounting students at the Ross School of Business have worked closely with the city to help address these non-payment issues. This talk will describe the projects the students have worked on, the benefits to both the city and to the students, and the work that still needs to be done. We will be joined by the city’s Director of Audit and Compliance, Odell Bailey.

Towsley Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali will moderate a panel discussion with three leading counterterrorism experts--Peter Bergen, Barbara McQuade, and Chris Costa.

The panelists will discuss their work in helping to deliver capital to America’s communities, the growth and transformation of the industry,  headwinds the field faces and what’s in store for the next 40 years of community development finance.

Join the Ford School in welcoming back Dr. Ruth Browne, CEO of Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health and the 2015 Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence. This event is part of the University of Michigan's 29th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium.

About the event In a conversation moderated by Susan Waltz, Margo Picken and John Ciorciari will discuss the positive and negative effects of the UN-backed Khmer Rouge trials that began several years ago in "extraordinary chambers" of the courts of Cambodia. Will they bring "closure" to the country's dark past?

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Follow the conversation on Twitter: #policytalks From the speaker's bio: Richard Boucher comes to us following his tenure as Deputy Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Prior to joining OECD, Richard enjoyed an extremely successful career with the State Department, becoming the longest-serving Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and serving as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs (2006-2009).

Douglas A. Brook, former Acting Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, is a distinguished graduate of the Ford School (MPA '67) and will be the 2009 Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Alberto Trejos, the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, will focus his presentation on the evolution of Costa Rica's decision to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). In addition to addressing the implications of a Costa Rica-United States free trade agreement, Dr.

Mr. Palouš was Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States for 5 years and is now the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations. In October 1998, he became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Mr. Palouš was also active in various non-governmental organizations and served as chairman of the Czech Helsinki Committee until 1998.

Yazier Henry, Director, Direct Action Centre for Peace and Memory, Capetown, South Africa; Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Yazier Henry is a former anti-Apartheid activist who, as a teenager, became an officer in Umkhonto We Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress. He is a poet, writer, and peace activist.

Cecilia Muñoz, Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation, National Council of La Raza; Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, Gerald R.

Catherine Bertini's career spans public service at international, national, state, and local levels and includes private sector leadership and university teaching.

Former President of MIT Charles M. Vest will deliver the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation lecture October 12, at 3:30 p.m. in the Michigan Ballroom. The lecture is titled 'Improving the U.S. Intelligence Community – Lessons from Iraq, Libya, and Elsewhere.' The talk is part of Dr. Vest's visit to the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, where he is the Towsley Policymaker in Residence. The Towsley Policymaker in Residence program at the Ford School brings a policymaker to campus for an extended period of time to teach, write, and talk with faculty and students.

Barbara Freese, J.D., is an environmental writer and Towsley Policymaker in Residence.

Dr. Namanga Ngongi served as the UN Secretary General’s Chief of Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the chief negotiator for the ceasefire that ended hostilities there in  July 2003.

Catherine Bertini, formerly executive director of the World Food Program, gave this inaugural lecture of the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence.