international development

Publication

Overburdened bureaucrats, not corruption, are delaying public benefits in India

Jun 4, 2026

Yusuf Neggers co-authored an article in VoxDev about how improving access to existing government data can reduce delays in public benefit delivery and strengthen safety nets for vulnerable households.

News

Why civil service reform fails—and what actually works

May 27, 2026

Martin Williams draws on over a decade of research across six African countries to explain why civil service reforms so often fall short, and what leaders should do instead—in VoxDev.

Person smiling with a greenery background

Alumni spotlight

Collaborative development across Asia

May 7, 2026

Overseeing a $45 billion portfolio, Morris works with governments across 25 nations on projects ranging from physical infrastructure to universal healthcare.

2 people in safety gear inspect a railway system in Vietnam

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

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...

Alumni spotlight

Designing investment policies to strengthen economic resilience

Dec 8, 2025

Zenia Rogatschnig (MPP ’09) turns ideas into practice at the World Bank, helping developing countries build stronger economies.

News

Professors draw on unconventional journeys to reshape Chinese studies

Nov 30, 2025

Ann Chih Lin’s personal journey gave her a unique perspective on examining China's policies.

Photo of Ann Lin in her office at the U-M's Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies

News

Malala Yousafzai inspires students with her activism journey

Oct 27, 2025

The Ford School and the Weiser Diplomacy Center welcomed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai to Ann Arbor for a conversation about her personal journey as an activist.

News

IPC’s Aid and Development Workshop series helps students meet the moment

Aug 11, 2025

Grant writing and proposal development, once useful skills, have become essential for international development professionals, according to Ford School lecturer Amy Beck Harris. “As international organizations undergo sweeping changes, the actual ski...

News

Hassan co-organizes workshop at University of Nairobi to chart Africa’s data future

Aug 6, 2025

Yousif Hassan co-organized and facilitated the “Empowering Africa Through Data Governance” workshop at the University of Nairobi this July.

News

The Ford School mourns the loss of Richard Boucher

Jul 3, 2025

The Ford School mourns the loss of Ambassador (ret.) Richard A. Boucher, who was a frequent presence at Weill Hall Ann Arbor for many years. He died on June 27 at his home in Arlington, Va. During his thirty-two years career in U.S. diplomacy, he se...

News

Brain drain or brain gain? New evidence points to benefits of skilled migration

Jun 4, 2025

A new review from Dean Yang published in Science reveals evidence that high-skilled migration opportunities can also lead to “brain gain,” increasing, rather than decreasing, a country’s overall stock of educated workers.

Young Team of South Asian Specialists Working on Desktop Computers at a Modern Workplace. Indian Software Developer Discussing a Financial Software Project with a Female Team Lead

Publication

Hassan on AI, power, and decolonial possibility in Africa

Apr 29, 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly defining force, shaping global advancements and influencing crucial aspects of society. Assistant professor Yousif Hassan’s research examines the social, economic, and political implications of emerging...

News

Alexander De Croo is optimistic for the future of transatlantic relations

Apr 20, 2025

Former Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo shared his positive outlook for the future of transatlantic relations, despite stirred uncertainty from the Trump Administration in a community-wide discussion at the Ford School on April 15th, 2025, Du...

Publication

Yang finds unintended consequences of an early education program in the Philippines

Apr 3, 2025

A major policy change in early education in the Philippines led to an unexpected drop in test scores and academic achievement—revealing the challenges that even well-intentioned reforms can have and the importance of wisely investing in the first yea...

News

Hassan to examine social dimensions of Africa's data infrastructure and data economy

Mar 26, 2025

Yousif Hassan, assistant professor at the Ford School of Public Policy and the School of Information, has been awarded funding from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for a new project Defining and Measuring the Sustain...

Publication

From Epic to Elections: How a TV Series Transformed India’s Cultural and Political Landscape

Feb 10, 2025

Economists use variations in TV signal strength to demonstrate long-term impacts of the smash 80s series, ‘The Ramayan.’

In the Media

Camara comments on French military withdrawal Chad

Feb 5, 2025 ABC Australia

Kamissa Camara, Ford School professor, gave context to and explains French troops withdrawal from Chad and the Sahel region of Africa a place she called "the world epicenter of global terrorism" and discussed the failure of the French military partne...

News

Exciting events at the Ford School this January

Jan 10, 2025

The Ford School is pleased to announce an exciting lineup for our January 2025 Policy Talks @ the Ford School series and other special public events hosted with partners from across campus. Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise note...

News

A Fight for Our Common Humanity: Dr. Denis Mukwege’s Efforts to End Rape as a Weapon of War

Dec 20, 2024

123,000 women were raped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2023 - that’s one woman every 4 minutes. Dr. Denis Mukwege dedicated his life to helping victims of sexual assault in Congo, building a program of holistic healing and justice at Pa...

State & Hill

Amy Beck Harris helps students understand the “how” of international development

Dec 17, 2024

Before becoming an academic, Ford School Lecturer Amy Beck Harris worked in international development and foreign assistance implementation across Latin America with Chemonics International, the largest international development firm that implements ...

Smiling students in straw hats in Colombia holding a University of Michigan Block-M flag

News

Bold Challenges awards $700K for eight research teams

May 1, 2024

Eight interdisciplinary teams from across the University of Michigan have received more than $700,000 from the Bold Challenges’ Accelerate Program to explore innovative research projects that address a wide range of societal challenges ranging from h...

State & Hill

Discourse: Fordies in the news, spring 2024

Apr 24, 2024

“The most likely explanation for our findings is that Black—and to a lesser extent Hispanic—families were more concerned about the health risks associated with in-person schooling than white families. This is consistent with the fact that nonwhite co...

Headshots of Jacob, Camara, Wolfers, Raimi, and Ivacko

News

DC career trip returns to advance connections between students and alumni

Feb 29, 2024

The DC career exploration trip, a Ford School tradition organized by Career Services, was held this year on February 8th and 9th in person for the first time since 2020. The experience allows graduate and undergraduate students to learn about policy ...

Ford School students, alumni, and friends network in DC

News

Kamissa Camara: Bridging Worlds and Narratives

Jan 27, 2024

Ford School Professor Kamissa Camara is a World Economic Forum "Young Global Leader" and an Aliko Dangote Fellow. The Forum called on its YGLs as the world's top representatives from government, civil society, and business gathered in Davos, Switzerl...

In the Media

Global warming and the green transition pose the world's greatest challenge - Wolfers

Oct 20, 2023 The Economic Times

Justin Wolfers, The Economic Times: Q. What do you consider the world’s greatest economic challenge today? A. The most immediate one encompasses the tremendous disruptions of global warming and trying to transition to a greener economy. These h...

News

Page selected as Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration

Oct 18, 2023

The Ford School’s Susan D. Page has been selected by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) for inclusion in its 2023 Class of Academy Fellows, in recognition of her years of public administration service and expertise. Page, curren...

News

Weiser Diplomacy Center continues its practical approach to international affairs

Sep 27, 2023

Four current and former army officers stood before a set of maps on a screen in the Betty Ford auditorium, giving background on the on-going diplomatic standoff in Cyprus. The audience consisted of 24 undergraduate and graduate students from the Ford...

Publication

New study ties exposure to armed conflict violence in childhood with subsequent alcohol use disorder

Sep 27, 2023

Exposure to nearby violence has been shown to increase the onset of alcohol use disorders (AUD), especially in young people. In new research, William Axinn, Ford School professor and research professor at the Survey Research Center and Population Stu...

In the Media

Dominguez: Yen appreciation not a threat to U.S. economy

Sep 21, 2023 Marketplace

Kathryn Dominguez, Marketplace: If the yen jumps around too much, anyone that wants to trade with Japan might hold off. Supply chains could seize up. Kathryn Dominguez, a professor at the University of Michigan, said this is not the time for that to ...

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