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,...
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...
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...
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...
If you ask Vincent Pinti (MPP/JD '27) why he entered the dual degree master’s of public policy and law program at the University of Michigan, he’ll tell you that he didn’t have a...
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...
Moynihan: "State capacity” is hard to define and measure, and is perhaps seen as boring, but capacity is the hidden glue that holds public policy together, or, when debased, causes public policy to fall apart. If you care about the quality of...
Have you ever disassembled a broken coffee maker or a sink, convinced you could fix it, only to end up with a jumble of parts? As a child, Terry Nguyen’s (BA ’25) curiosity about how things worked led to a broken fan, a pile of parts, and no idea...
Susan M. Collins, former dean of the Ford School and now president & CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, made a welcome return to Weill Hall in November for a public event and lunch with students. During her visit, she shared insights into...
The economics of tariffs is surprisingly simple: they are a tax, which raises the price that buyers pay and that competing sellers inside the country can...
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...
In his last public event as U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg visited the Ford School for a conversation on investments in infrastructure. Below is an excerpt from an interview with S&H....
Cavaillé: A large and growing number of voters have found in political figures like Trump, Meloni, Orban, and Le Pen a home to express their grievances over the state of the economy, their own socioeconomic status, and immigration...
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...
Dean Watkins-Hayes, at the Congressional Breakfast in DC, with Michigan in Washington undergraduates Ajay Morelli, Malinda Brunk, Rachel Ellisen, and Isaac Davis, and Riecker Fellow Hope Wang (MPP...
Gerald R. Ford once said, “The global economy requires an unprecedented grasp of diverse viewpoints and cultural traditions.” This sentiment is woven throughout and embedded in who we are and what we do at the Ford...
Following an exchange between President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and Donald Trump, TRT has turned to the Ford School's Javed Ali for his interpretation of the interaction. Ali stated, "I do think there's part of this that is designed to be a negotiating...
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...
The DC career exploration trip, a long-standing annual tradition organized by the Ford School's Career Services, took place on February 6 and 7. This year’s trip saw over 80 graduate and undergraduate students—the largest group of student...
President Trump has recently taken an unexpected stance on defense spending and denuclearizing warfare. Trump stated he hopes to work with China and Russia to lower defense spending and terminate the pursuit of nuclear weapon innovations on a global...
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...
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...
James McIntire leaves a legacy of policy for the public goodThis year, the Ford School Alumni Board honored James L. McIntire (MPP ’78) with the 2024 Neil Staebler Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes outstanding professional achievement in...
William G. Axinn is the interim director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center. He recently published “Early-life risk factors for depression among young adults in the United States general population: Attributable risks and gender...
“Most likely the perception within the Israel Defence Forces and at the political level within Netanyahu’s war cabinet is that they have the momentum. . . . when one side believes it has the momentum against its adversary, you don’t want to give it...
