State & Hill

Spring 2021
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You have to have a reputation for total integrity. You have to have a reputation for hard work, discipline. You have to have a capability of getting good people to work with you.

President Gerald R. Ford in an interview with former Dean Rebecca Blank on the fundamentals that Ford School students need for success in public service, May 2004.

 

Michael S. Barr

Message from the dean

After a chaotic 2020 election cycle, policymakers are getting down to the difficult business of leading, making decisions, and implementing policy. With a commitment to the public good, members of our community are taking part in this process and doing the serious work of public service every day.
Read more from Dean Michael S. Barr
Illustration of a hand, extended for a handshake, crumbling.

In government we trust?

Rebuilding trust in government—and in democracy
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Illustration of many hands hoisting up the arm of Lady Liberty

The federal civilian workforce

Checking in on the nation’s public servants
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Headshots of Stephanie Chang, Jordan Matsudaira, Farouk Ophaso, and Evan Raleigh

Dream big, listen, and know when to compromise

Four elected and newly appointed alumni on public leadership
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Celebrating our graduates

Congratulations, classes of 2021!

“Wherever you go next, you are called to be both strength and humility; resilience and tenacity; fortitude and vision. Accept this challenge of leadership—as public and civil leaders, intellectuals and academics, researchers and analysts, policy makers and change agents. You have done the extraordinary. You can do it again, and you can do it again.”
-Yazier Henry, remarks on behalf of the faculty
Watch remarks and view photos
Two Ford School BA graduates
Betsey Stevenson

Q&A with Betsey Stevenson

Betsey Stevenson on the 'she-cession' and her academic inspiration
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Paula Lantz

Leadership grounded in service

Paula Lantz’s home-run term as associate dean
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Photo of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, President Bill Clinton, and Joan and Ambassador Mel Levitsky

Love of country and school

Levitskys broaden students’ horizons
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PPIA fellows on the U-M Diag

LSA graduate Tom Tuft invests in future policy leaders

New gift will support PPIA and the Conversations Across Differences initiative
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Susan Dynarski sits outside her Harvard freshman dorm

New impacts on education and environmental policy

And wishing Sue Dynarski well as she heads home to Boston
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Stephanie Sanders

The Last Word

Stephanie Sanders on diversity, equity, and inclusion
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And more...

PPIA milestone

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) program, which was designed to build diversity in public service. The Ford School has proudly supported PPIA since its inception in 1981. We’ve been one of just a handful of policy schools to host the educational initiative every summer, and have grown our enrollment in recent years.

Did you attend a PPIA Junior Summer Institute in Ann Arbor or elsewhere? We’d love to hear from you.
Tell us what you’ve been up to!
PPIA fellows on the U-M Diag

Do you want to ensure your support for the Ford School continues forever?

Planting seeds
(Illustration: Vecteezy / Nick Pfost)

“In the 1960s President Kennedy inspired us to view public service as an important and honorable profession, even a calling. A couple of years ago, I decided to ‘pay it forward’ by including the Ford School in my estate plan. I want to help encourage and educate students from underrepresented groups to take on leadership positions in government.”
—Ann Branston (MPP ‘71)

Read more from alumni and donors about why they're including the Ford School in their estate plans.

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Thanks to members of the Ford School community who shared their masked photos for the cover of this issue and our related communications.