Policy Topics

Science and technology

Showing 1 - 30 of 612 results
Emeritus faculty

Carl P. Simon

Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Mathematics, and Complex Systems
Simon was the founding director of the U-M Center for the Study of Complex Systems. His research centers on the dynamics of covid-19, of crime, of teenage smoking, and of Great Lakes salmon. He was named the 2007 LSA Distinguished Senior Lecturer.
Faculty by courtesy

Ben Green

Assistant Professor of Information; Assistant Professor of Public Policy (by courtesy)
Green studies the social and political impacts of government algorithms. His book, The Smart Enough City: Putting Technology in Its Place to Reclaim Our Urban Future, was published in 2019 by MIT Press.
Faculty by courtesy

Daniel E. Little

Professor of Sociology; Professor of Public Policy (by courtesy); Chancellor Emeritus, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Daniel Little is a professor of sociology at UM-Ann Arbor, with a courtesy appointment at the Ford School and research appointments in the Center for Chinese Studies, ICPSR, and the Center for Complex Systems. The former chancellor of UM-Dearborn,…
Adjunct faculty

Daniel Raimi

Lecturer in Public Policy
Daniel Raimi is a fellow at Resources for the Future and a lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He works on a range of energy policy issues with a focus on tools to enable an equitable energy…
Adjunct faculty

John J. Schwarz

Lecturer in Public Policy
John J.H. "Joe" Schwarz is a lecturer at the Ford School. He received his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Michigan in 1959, and his medical degree from Wayne State University in 1964. Dr. Schwarz served his residency in…
Core faculty

James J. Duderstadt

President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering
James J. Duderstadt is President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering. A graduate of Yale ('64 BSE in electrical engineering) and Caltech ('65 MS and '67 PhD in engineering science and physics), Duderstadt's teaching,…
Core faculty

Elisabeth R. Gerber

Jack L. Walker, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Public Policy
Gerber’s research focuses on regionalism and intergovernmental cooperation, sustainable development, urban climate adaptation, transportation policy, community and economic development, local fiscal capacity, and local political accountability.
Core faculty

Catherine Hausman

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Hausman is an environmental and energy economist, and some of her recent areas of research include electricity markets and climate change; inequality in pollution exposure; and the natural gas sector's role in methane leaks. She is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research.
Core faculty

Shobita Parthasarathy

Professor of Public Policy; Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy program
Parthasarathy studies the governance of emerging science and technology and the politics of evidence and expertise in policy in comparative and international perspective. Her current research focuses on equity in innovation and innovation policy. She co-hosts The Received Wisdom podcast.
Core faculty

Barry Rabe

J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy
Rabe examines the political feasibility and durability of environmental and energy policy, with a particular emphasis on efforts to address climate change in the U.S. and other federal systems. His most recent books examine the politics of carbon pricing and the limitations of unilateral executive branch policy actions. Current research explores the politics of intensive but short-lived greenhouse gases, such as methane and HFCs. Recent policy engagement includes work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, the Department of Commerce, and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
Core faculty

Kaitlin T. Raimi

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Raimi is a social psychologist focused on climate change beliefs and policy support. She studies how people compare themselves to others, how adopting one pro-environmental behavior affects later action, and how communication affects understanding and support for climate policy and technology.
Core faculty

Joy Rohde

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Rohde is historian who specializes in the relationship between policy knowledge, technology, and American democracy. At Michigan, she is also affiliated with the Department of History, the Science, Technology, and Society Program, and the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program.
Our Impact

Science and technology policy

Urgent questions at the intersection of science, technology, and public policy are shaping nearly every aspect of our society. Science and technology policies shape transportation, communication, public safety, social services, and much...
In the Media

Kleinman on the hazards of facial recognition technology in schools

Oct 4, 2023 City & State
“One thing that’s different from a lot of these earlier kinds of surveillance technologies is the way that the data travels so far beyond the school where it’s coming from,” Kleinman said in an interview.  “The student data in these databases is...
In the Media

"Appropriative" patents a long-term problem - Parthasarathy

Sep 1, 2023 NPR Planet Money
The way that a lot of pharmaceutical companies got their knowledge was often from going to other countries and finding out about Indigenous knowledge and then coming back and testing that. So there's a famous case of Eli Lilly patenting a treatment...
News

Will courts limit the use of climate-combatting technologies?

Aug 30, 2023
Ford School professor Barry Rabe is concerned about how a set of recent court decisions mean for new climate technologies.  In a commentary piece for Brookings, Rabe notes that while the U.S. has been a world leader in accelerating the transition...
News

Ford School welcomes Yousif Hassan as faculty

Aug 21, 2023
Yousif Hassan will join the Ford School faculty as an assistant professor in January 2024. Hassan’s work examines the social, economic, and political implications of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and data focusing on...
In the Media

Natural disasters can have an effect on climate skeptics - Raimi

Aug 3, 2023 Associated Press
Kaitlin Raimi, Associated Press: And highly visible events in places where they’re not normally expected — like heat waves in places without air conditioning infrastructure, or wildfire smoke on the East Coast and in the Midwest — can be more...
News

STPP to explore best practice in community engagement

Aug 1, 2023
As technologists and scientists increasingly engage with communities in order to enhance the societal benefits of their work, and demonstrate its public value, it is important to ensure that such engagements benefit the people they claim to serve....
Publication

Parthasarathy calls for reimagining the innovation process

Jul 19, 2023
The basic model of technological innovation in the U.S. has relied upon academic research and private sector commercialization. While the standard approach has stimulated macroeconomic growth, produced many valuable products, and created jobs,...
In the Media

Parthasarathy: ChatGPT reinforces human biases

Jun 18, 2023 WDET
Shobita Parthasarathy says ChatGPT simply reiterates language that humans have already created, and that often the ideas and biases that humans exhibit are reinforced by the tool. “[ChatGPT] is not magic. It’s also not an asteroid. It is us. It...
In the Media

Rabe says Alaska taking a "leap of faith" with carbon credits

May 23, 2023 Associated Press
Barry Rabe, Associated Press: Lawmakers cast the bill as allowing Alaska to have the best of both worlds — continuing to permit oil drilling, mining and timber activities while also stepping into the potentially lucrative market for sequestering...