Faculty expertise

Shape your future alongside dedicated mentors and world-class scholars who are redefining public policy.At the Ford School, you’ll connect with extraordinary faculty who do more than teach—they challenge, inspire, and champion the next generation of ...

News

Hausman, Michelmore, and Pilkauskas promoted to full professors

May 22, 2026

The Regents of the University of Michigan approved promotions for Catherine Hausman, Katherine Michelmore, and Natasha Pilkauskas—all to professor of public policy, with tenure.

News

Herd and Moynihan win 2026 Riccucci-O’Leary Award

May 19, 2026

Pam Herd and Donald Moynihan have been recognized with the 2026 Riccucci-O'Leary Award for the best article on diversity in public management, conferred by the Public Management Research Association (PRMA).

Headshots of Pamela Herd and Donald Moynihan

News

Don Moynihan wins prestigious George Fredrickson Award for Career Contributions

May 19, 2026

Dr. Donald Moynihan, the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy, has received the 2026 George Fredrickson Award for Career Contributions from the Public Management Research Association (PRMA) in recognition of his valuable contribu...

News

Justin Wolfers launches Platypus Economics to bring economic thinking to everyday life

May 12, 2026

Justin Wolfers Q&A about the urgent need for economic literacy, the meaning behind his new platform, Platypus Economics, and how it aims to help people make sense of today's economy and political climate.

Publication

U-M and MSU team partner to study impact of prenatal and infant cash prescription program in Flint, Michigan

May 11, 2026

A new peer-reviewed study published in JAMA Pediatrics provides rigorous, population-level evidence that the Rx Kids program, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program, is associated with substantial reductions i...

Publication

Large, profitable oil and gas companies pass environmental risks to smaller, undercapitalized firms

May 11, 2026

Oil and gas companies use wells to extract the raw materials eventually sold to consumers as everyday goods. But what happens when wells begin to yield less product? Large oil and gas companies transfer low-value wells to companies with smaller po...

News

"Trump thought Iran would fold. That’s how Vietnam started." —Hills

May 8, 2026

Read the analysis: Ford School Lecturer Rusty Hills, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, in the Detroit Free Press.

State & Hill

Faculty news, spring 2026

May 7, 2026

Ford School experts are publishing research, sharing their knowledge, and getting recognized.

A series of six headshots of people smiling

Publication

What really wins wars? Atran weighs in

Apr 30, 2026

In a recent opinion essay, anthropologist Scott Atran argues that the decisive factor is often not superior firepower, but the presence of “devoted actors,” people whose personal identity is fused with a group’s collective identity and anchored in no...

Publication

Sharing a family photo helps migrant workers elicit employer empathy

Apr 29, 2026

Researchers studying Filipino domestic workers, in collaboration with the Philippine government through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, found that small gestures—providing a small gift of dried mangos and showing a family photo to new em...

News

Jason Owen-Smith testifies before the U.S. House subcommittee on investigations and oversight

Apr 21, 2026

Sociologist Jason Owen-Smith, executive director of the University of Michigan's Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS) and courtesy professor at the Ford School, testified April 15 before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Investigation...

News

Moynihan receives prestigious Guggenheim fellowship

Apr 16, 2026

Donald Moynihan, J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy and co-director of the Better Government Lab, has been named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow.

Don Moynihan next to the text 'Guggenheim Fellowship - 2026 Fellow'

News

Lantz retires from the University of Michigan

Apr 15, 2026

Paula Lantz, whose work has helped shape national conversations about social determinants of health, will retire from the University of Michigan on May 31, 2026.

Publication

Lantz: Despite technical challenges, Section 1115 Medicaid waivers can improve health-related social outcomes

Mar 27, 2026

New research from demographer Paula Lantz analyzes the challenges and opportunities state policymakers experience when using Section 1115 Medicaid waivers. The study was co-authored by Ford School student Sofia Hiltner and published in Health Affairs...

News

Meet the faculty who shape the Ford School’s Online Master of Public Affairs (MPA) experience

Mar 10, 2026

Professors Morela Hernandez, Mara Ostfeld, Megan Tompkins-Stange, and Justin Wolfers will be teaching courses for the Ford School's Online MPA program this fall.

News

Michelmore inducted to the National Academy of Social Insurance

Feb 27, 2026

Katherine Michelmore was inducted into NASI, an organization dedicated to exploring how social insurance contributes to economic security.

News

New Poverty Solutions interview series highlights intersection of poverty and social systems

Feb 18, 2026

Stacked Deck, a new video interview series from the Ford School’s Poverty Solutions, invites people with various types of expertise to share their views on the intersections between poverty and U.S. social systems and explore ways to create a future ...

A promotional graphic with a yellow background titled "Stacked Deck: with Kristin Seefeldt"

News

Shobita Parthasarathy on how to repair trust in science

Jan 26, 2026

In her second column for Science Magazine, Ford School Professor Shobita Parthasarathy argues that rather than treating the growing crisis of public trust as an information and communication problem, we should treat it as an innovation and expertise ...

A person gesturing while speaking at a podium in front of a blackboard, in a lecture hall.

News

Nearly half of Detroit seniors spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs − even as real estate values fall

Jan 22, 2026

Amanda Nothaft, Director of Data and Analysis at Poverty Solutions, discusses how Detroit seniors are impacted by declining housing values and high housing costs in The Conversation.

News

Protests across Iran—and a deadly crackdown: Javed Ali weighs in

Jan 13, 2026

The Ford School's Javed Ali comments on the recent protests in Iran, which may have seen more than 2,000 casualties.

News

Ford School faculty among the nation's top education scholars

Jan 8, 2026

Cohodes, Jacob, and Weiland made the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.

Headshots of Brian A. Jacob, Christina J. Weiland, and Sarah Cohodes

News

U.S. capture of Venezuelan president: U-M experts can discuss

Jan 5, 2026

Experts from the University of Michigan are available to share insights on U.S. intervention in Venezuela and the weekend arrest of its president, Nicolas Maduro, during a raid. Maduro is expected to appear before a judge in New York on Monday to fac...

Headshots of Javed Ali and Jonathan Hanson.

Publication

Paula Lantz analyzes the negative effects of restrictive reproductive care

Oct 30, 2025

When the Supreme Court abruptly ended the constitutional protection of access to abortion care in 2022, experts predicted that restrictive laws would have negatively impact reproductive care, and maternal and infant health outcomes. Paula Lantz exami...

News

The effects of pausing SNAP benefits: U-M experts can comment

Oct 27, 2025

EXPERTS ADVISORY University of Michigan experts are available to discuss the impact of a potential halt in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding due to the federal government shutdown. A directive from the U.S. Department of Agriculture h...

News

Institutions shape prosperity: Wolfers delivers keynote address at Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Boyer Lecture

Oct 23, 2025

Early this week, Ford School economist Justin Wolfers delivered the Australian Broadcast Corporation’s annual Boyer Lecture. For 66 years, the Boyer Lecture has brought leaders in policymaking and academia together to discuss the challenging, endurin...

News

Kathryn Dominguez named University of Michigan Distinguished University Professor

Oct 17, 2025

The University of Michigan Regents named Kathryn Dominguez as a Distinguished University Professor. This distinction is the University’s most prestigious professorship, which recognizes senior faculty who have exceptional scholarly achievements, a na...

Kathryn Dominguez speaks to prospective students at the Ford School's Spring Preview

Publication

Owen-Smith presents alternative research methods for measuring AI’s economic impact

Oct 9, 2025

Policymakers do not have the data they need to fully understand AI’s impact on the U.S. economy, labor force, and industries. Jason Owen-Smith and experts from across the U.S. address this gap in a new policy report from AEI.

News

Likelihood, potential impacts of federal shutdown: Ford School experts can comment

Oct 1, 2025

EXPERTS ADVISORY University of Michigan researchers are available to share their insights on a federal government shutdown at the end of the day Tuesday, unless lawmakers break the impasse and make a deal before then. Stephanie Leiser is a lecturer a...

Publication

Shobita Parthasarathy’s “Expert Voices” column in Science: Beware the drive to scale technology

Sep 19, 2025

Ford School Professor Shobita Parthasarathy has been invited to serve as an “Expert Voices” columnist for Science over the next two years. Read her inaugural column, “Beware the drive to scale technology.”