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Top technology journalist and thinker Kara Swisher to join Ford School faculty for Fall 2025

Mar 14, 2025

Technology writer and podcaster Kara Swisher will join the Ford School for the Fall 2025 semester as a Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in...

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Ford School to host screening of Oscar nominated documentary SUGARCANE

Mar 13, 2025

The Ford School will host a special screening of Oscar-nominated documentary SUGARCANE at the Michigan Theatre on Monday, April 14, followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie.SUGARCANE follows an investigation into the...

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Lessons from the Big Ten Democracy Summit

Mar 12, 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...

Liz Gerber at the BIG10 Democracy Summit

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Johnson and Wang awarded 2025 Riecker Fellowship

Mar 12, 2025

Two second year master’s students, Hope Wang (MPP ‘25) and Julia Johnson (MPP ‘25), have been selected from a competitive pool of applicants for the Ford School’s prestigious 2025 Riecker Fellowship. They are spending the winter semester in...

Headshots of Julia Johnson and Hope Wang

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Greetings from the Dean - The Briefing, March 2025

Mar 12, 2025

Dear friends, In a time of dynamic policy shifts, our commitment to preparing future public policy leaders remains steadfast. Last month, around 80 students traveled to our annual DC Careers Trip, engaging in valuable discussions and networking that...

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Efficiency, success of Social Security threatened by planned layoffs, U-M expert says

Mar 11, 2025

A University of Michigan professor offers insights on the Trump administration’s plans to cut the Social Security Administration workforce.Pamela Herd is the Carol Kakalec Kohn professor of social policy at the Ford School of Public Policy and a...

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Lacking a playbook for dealing with economic decline, leaders of smaller cities opt for pragmatism, flexibility

Mar 10, 2025

The challenges facing big cities such as Detroit and Cleveland have been widely examined by experts over the decades, as each has dealt with the loss of population and major industries. Stephanie Leiser chronicled the situations in small- to...

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Wolfers weighs in on tariffs, uncertainty, and the stock market

Mar 9, 2025

Ford School professor and economist Justin Wolfers discussed the impacts of tariffs, uncertainty, and consumer sentiment on the US economy with several news outlets last week. Wolfers highlighted the response the stock market had to tariffs and what...

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DOGE Plan to Push AI Across the US Federal Government is Wildly Dangerous - Green

Mar 6, 2025

Ford School assistant professor (by courtesy) Ben Green, wrote an essay for Tech Policy on Elon Musk's new “AI-first strategy” for the federal government, and commented, "unleashing AI to revolutionize the federal government is a recipe for...

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Parthasarathy speaks at AAAS Annual meeting about Asilomar’s legacy

Feb 27, 2025

Shobita Parthasarathy spoke at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in a session titled, “Revisiting Asilomar Fifty Years Later: Who is in the room when we talk about AI?” While Asilomar is often praised for...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

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Hausman discusses eliminating fossil fuel subsidies

Feb 27, 2025

A bill has been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives to eliminate or reduce many tax breaks and exemptions currently offered to fossil fuel companies, including oil, gas, and coal. The Ford School's Catherine Hausman was recently featured...

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Podcast: Hassan explores risks, responsibilities in development and implementation of AI

Feb 26, 2025

Challenges abound in the development, implementation and effects of artificial intelligence. Yet people still have the power to limit risks and even foster positive integration of AI—should they choose to shoulder that responsibility. Listen to the...

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Most Michigan law enforcement officials back some use of mental health workers, others in 911 response

Feb 26, 2025

Most of Michigan’s county sheriffs and local police chiefs support some type of alternative or hybrid approach for responding to 911 calls beyond traditional law enforcement officers.However, a majority of them believe it would be difficult to...

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Rico comments on Trump policies' impact on immigrant communities

Feb 23, 2025

Center for Racial Justice Postdoctoral Fellow Kristina Fullerton Rico explores what she calls the dangerous implications of President Trump's deportation policy in an essay in The Conversation. Citing extensive social science research on U.S....

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‘Music is about people — it’s not about music’

Feb 21, 2025

‘Like a big gumbo pot’The way Branford Marsalis sees it, the world needs social activists and artists. Yet the Grammy-winning saxophonist said he has a hard time doing both.“Playing music is so hard — I don’t really have time for (activism),”...

An individual wearing a colorful sweater is speaking and gesturing, seated next to another person in a discussion at the Ford School of Public Policy.

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Ford School joins Volcker Alliance to aid veterans in pursuing public service careers

Feb 21, 2025

The Ford School has been chosen as one of 12 distinguished public policy schools to participate in “Service to Service,” a national initiative that connects veterans and military families with education opportunities in public service. Spearheaded...

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Wolfers counters Musk's claims about about Social Security beneficiaries

Feb 21, 2025

Elon Musk shared on social platform X, that almost 20 million people over age 100, with no death record, were receiving Social Security benefits. The Ford School's Justin Wolfers quickly jumped in to assert the falsehood in Musk's claims.Responding...

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U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin to deliver 2025 Ford School commencement address

Feb 21, 2025

The Ford School is honored to welcome U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) as the keynote speaker at the 2025 spring commencement for approximately 180 graduating BA, MPP, MPA, and PhD...

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Government suspicion, conspiratorial thinking linked to historical harm in 3 Michigan communities, U-M report finds

Feb 20, 2025

More than half of residents surveyed in three Michigan communities believe significant events occur without public knowledge—a sentiment of government suspicion closely tied to conspiratorial thinking, according to a University of Michigan policy...

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Wolfers: The Department of Government Efficiency has yet to be "efficient"

Feb 20, 2025

Speaking with MSNBC discussing President Trump's first month in office, the Ford School's Justin Wolfers illustrates the shortcomings of Trump's policies and the DOGE agency. Since DOGE has promised to cut federal spending by trillions, Wolfers...

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Atran on the future of Gaza, from Gazans

Feb 19, 2025

In a new article published in Foreign Affairs, Scott Atran and co-author Ángel Gómez shine a light on Gazans’ views, highlighting a complicated picture of postwar Gaza. Support for Hamas among Gazans has declined, however alternatives to the group’s...

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Musician Etienne Charles discusses culture and combatting climate change

Feb 14, 2025

Jazz musician Etienne Charles is combining his musicianship and passion about climate change and its impacts on vulnerable communities worldwide. Charles came to the Ford School January 17, 2025 and spoke with the Catherine Hausman, about the ways...

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Shaefer's Rx Kids program set to expand to the Upper Penninsula

Feb 14, 2025

Rx Kids, the nation’s first-ever citywide cash prescription program for pregnant women and babies, today announced the program’s launch into communities in the Eastern Upper Peninsula (UP). The UP expansion of Rx Kids is made possible by an...

Photo of Luke Shaefer in the Ford School's Towsley Reading Room

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US Department of Education's role in K-12 education, funding local schools: U-M experts can discuss

Feb 14, 2025

As federal policymakers consider the future of the U.S. Department of Education, a new interactive data tool from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan shows the allocation of federal education funds to local school districts – making the...

Photo of kids running outside a school bus

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Lantz named to prestigious commission to address U.S. societal resilience

Feb 14, 2025

Paula Lantz, James B. Hudak Professor of health Policy, has been named to a new commission convened by the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. The commission is tasked with recommending how to enable communities to prepare for, resist, and...

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2025 DC trip boosts alumni connections and career insights for students

Feb 13, 2025

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...

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STPP partnership selected for competitive Strava program to shape the future of active transportation

Feb 13, 2025

An initiative from the Ford School's Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program was among 10 global projects selected by Strava, the popular ride and run tracking app, for its inaugural Metro for Academic Researchers Program....

Photo of group riding bicycles down a neighborhood street.

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Under Trump, "Laws Are Just Vibes", says Moynihan

Feb 10, 2025

"On Friday, the administration announced that it would cap the overhead, or “indirect” rates, that the National Institutes of Health allows on its grants to universities," writes Ford School professor Don Moynihan in an essay published by The...

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Rx Kids celebration in the news as it expands to Kalamazoo

Feb 9, 2025

More than 1,300 babies and families in the city of Flint have received nearly $6 million in cash prescriptions since Rx Kids launched in January 2024. A birthday bash complete with cupcakes, coloring pages, and other birthday fun, was held Jan. 29...

Adult kissing a baby on the cheek, the baby is holding a teddy bear and wearing a floral headband.

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Shaefer's Rx Kids program celebrates nearly $6M distributed to Flint families in 1st year

Feb 7, 2025

Rx Kids, co-directed by the Ford School's Luke Shaefer, celebrated it one-year anniversary at the end of January. The program has given access to $6M in cash support for over 1,300 Flint families with pregnant mothers and babies in their first years...