State & Hill

Spring 2021

View/download PDF

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.

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.

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

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

Paula Lantz’s home-run term as associate dean

Photo of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, President Bill Clinton, and Joan and Ambassador Mel Levitsky

Levitskys broaden students’ horizons

New gift will support PPIA and the Conversations Across Differences initiative

Susan Dynarski sits outside her Harvard freshman dorm

And wishing Sue Dynarski well as she heads home to Boston

Stephanie Sanders on diversity, equity, and inclusion

Faculty News

Class Notes

Spotlights

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!

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)

Connect with us

Stay connected. Get Ford School news, research, and more straight to your inbox and on your social media feed.

Magazine

View all issues of State & Hill and sign up

E-newsletters

Interdisciplinary expertise, right to your inbox

Social media

Follow the @FordSchool on social media

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

State & Hill

Message from the dean

In government we trust?

The federal civilian workforce

Dream big, listen, and know when to compromise

Congratulations, classes of 2021!

Q&A with Betsey Stevenson

Leadership grounded in service

Love of country and school

LSA graduate Tom Tuft invests in future policy leaders

New impacts on education and environmental policy

The Last Word

And more...