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Alumni spotlight

Strange bedfellows for a cleaner NYC

May 9, 2025
When Emma Renzi Wise (BA ’19) got hooked on learning about environmental policy at the Ford School, she never imagined working for the New York City Department of Sanitation. But nearly six years after leaving Ann Arbor, Wise is the community...
Collage of Emma Renzi Wise with an oyster shell, manhole cover, and recycling bin
Alumni spotlight

Building futures in the regional economy

May 9, 2025
As vice president of regional initiatives for the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership, Tayrn MacFarlane (MBA/MPP ’08) unites local officials, business leaders, educational institutions, and community organizations from northern Indiana and...
Collage of Taryn Macfarlane with an outlined map of select Michigan and Indiana counties, a saxophone, and a turbine
Alumni spotlight

Improving legislative oversight, improving lives

May 9, 2025
You can’t get good government without good oversight.” That quote from U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) is a touchstone for the work of Ben Eikey (MPP ’19) and that of the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, where he serves as a manager for the...
Collage of Ben Eikey with West Virginia’s State Capitol building
Alumni spotlight

Jessica Gillooly helps cities reimagine 911 responses

May 9, 2025
Sociologist Jessica Gillooly (PhD ’20) has used her deep knowledge of call taking and dispatching, along with some compelling new theoretical ideas, to become one of the leading experts on this issue. Her expertise is helping inform and shape the...
Collage of Jessica Gillooly with a smartphone dialing 911
Alumni spotlight

City streets in San José

May 9, 2025
Rick Scott’s (MPA ’12) journey into public service was inspired by the events of September 11, 2001. “I just remember feeling like I wanted to do something,” he recalls of his high school senior year. This feeling led him to an ROTC scholarship,...
Rick Scott (MPA ‘12)
State & Hill

Jennifer Niggemeier: Parting advice

May 8, 2025
Over the past 32 years, Jennifer Niggemeier has been a supportive career coach and enthusiastic cheerleader for thousands of public policy students. Her influence has extended beyond individual mentorship to shape and advance programs and...
Two attendees smiling and posing together for a photo.
State & Hill

Policy job market trends

May 8, 2025
State & Hill sat down with the Ford School’s Director of Career Services Peter Vasher to get the lay of a challenging...
Person speaking at a podium with the University of Michigan and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy logos in the background.
State & Hill

Lessons from the Big Ten Democracy Summit

May 7, 2025
In an effort to spark democratic engagement on college campuses, the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy and the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy co-hosted the Big Ten Democracy Summit in February. More than 150...
Three individuals wearing lanyards smiling at a conference event.
State & Hill

The Last Word: Elisabeth Gerber

May 7, 2025
Professor Elisabeth Gerber is the inaugural faculty director of the Ford School’s Online Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program, which will launch in January 2026. Read what she has to say about the new...
A person gesturing while speaking at a podium with a backdrop labeled "Gerald R. Ford School, University of Michigan.
News

Faculty-led democracy projects receive presidential awards

Apr 18, 2025
Five faculty-led research projects from across the University of Michigan have received Presidential Awards for Understanding Democracy to enhance understanding of democracy’s operation and promise. The awards are part of the universitywide Year of...
Year of Democracy logo
News

Bridge Builders honored for democracy research

Apr 16, 2025
A group of Ford School graduate students were recognized for their research on furthering constructive dialogue as part of the Year of Democracy's three-day symposium to investigate the relationship between information and democracy....
Four individuals standing in front of a research poster at the Gramlich Showcase, smiling and dressed in business attire.
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,...
Don Moynihan
News

Bipartisan panel advocates for civic discourse and humility

Mar 23, 2025
“Civility is the bedrock of our free and democratic society,” Tonya Schuitmaker, a former Republican member of the Michigan Senate, told the recent panel on Promoting Civic Discourse - Democratic and Republican politicians on bridging the political...
civic-resilience
Alumni spotlight

Q&A: Kevin Naud (MPP '21) helps to develop workforce in Detroit

Feb 14, 2025
While Kevin Naud was born and raised in Ann Arbor, the Ford School alumnus’ offspring will be born and raised in Detroit.Naud, who graduated with a Master’s of Public Policy degree in 2021, and his wife are expecting their first child and just...
Headshot of Kevin Naud
News

Lightfoot and Durkan: Governing in times of crisis

Jan 22, 2025
Former Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, and former Mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, joined Barbara McQuade for a policy talk at the Ford School about Governing in times of crisis and the challenges they faced governing throughout the COVID-19...
2025-01-22-lightfoot-durkan-video-teaser-1090x681
News

Ford School alumni board welcomes new members

Jan 15, 2025
Six Ford School alumni have been elected to serve on the Alumni Board by their peers. These engaged alumni bring diverse experience working in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors in higher education, housing policy, health reform, and other...
Photo grid of alumni board member headshots
State & Hill

Behind the curtain: Fordies on the campaign trail

Dec 17, 2024
Rusty Hills has taught nearly 1,000 students in the 20 years he's been teaching the art and science of political campaigning. Winning campaigns require strategy, voter insight, compelling communication, and a well-executed plan, he tells students. A...
Adam Bressler (BA ’23), Kate Anderson (BA ’20), and Governor Gretchen Whitmer
State & Hill

Class notes, fall 2024

Dec 17, 2024
David Rivait (MPP ’84) was appointed by Governor Pritzker to the State of Illinois’ eight-member Budgeting for Results Commission. The Commission advises on an annual performance-based budget and provides oversight and guidance for assessments of...
Top row (from left to right): Laura Bishop (MPA ’99), Tyler (BA ’19) and Meghan Coady, Cristian Casanova (MPP ’21). Bottom row (from left to right): Jim Hudak (MPP ’71) with Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Dr. Gladys Mitchell-Walthour (MPP ’02), Eric (MPP ’87) and Kaye Norenberg.
State & Hill

Ford50 Essay Contest - The Nixon Pardon: A Study in Integrity

Dec 17, 2024
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. As part of our Ford50 commemoration, the Ford School challenged students to draft original essays on the...
Ford 50 Hero
State & Hill

Faculty Findings, fall 2024

Dec 17, 2024
Mental health and marriage timing Decades of research document powerful associations between parents’ characteristics and children’s marital behaviors. “Parental mental health strongly shapes or disrupts family life and long-term opportunities for...
Panoramic view of Pokhara, with Mt Fishtail / Machapuchare (Himalayan range)
State & Hill

A conversation with public management scholar Donald Moynihan

Dec 17, 2024
Donald Moynihan joined the Ford School this year as the next J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy. His research seeks to improve how government works by studying the administrative burdens people encounter in government, and he...
Don Moynihan
State & Hill

Getting curious about public policy with Jonathan Van Ness

Dec 17, 2024
Celebrated, Emmy Award-winning TV producer (Queer Eye), bestselling author, and host of the popular podcast Getting Curious, Jonathan Van Ness, who identifies as non-binary, has used their platform to champion a range of social issues close to their...
Getting Curious Live with Jonathan Van Ness
State & Hill

Reactions: 2024 elections

Dec 17, 2024
In the days following the 2024 elections, we sought insights from Ford School faculty members: How did we arrive at this point? And where do we go from here? Jenna Bednar, professor of political science and public policy: “The election raised the...
Headshots of Jenna Bednar, Charlotte Cavaillé, Jonathan Hanson, Mara Ostfeld, Ambassador Susan D. Page, and Betsey Stevenson