State & Hill, the print magazine of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, is a bi-annual publication featuring stories about the school's students, alumni, and faculty. Feature articles vary in each issue, and generally highlight noteworthy...
Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be—you get out and push and you pull and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men and women of goodwill in power to act.
Former U.S....
When City of Flint CFO Rob Widigan looks at his required annual financial reporting to the state of Michigan, he sighs. His department needs to compile the accounts, which are saved as a PDF document, and separately copy certain numbers into at...
Ford School writing instructor Molly Spencer's poetry collection, Invitatory, was selected as a 2022 New Measure Poetry Prize Winner. It is Spencer's third collection, joining If the House (University of Wisconsin Press, 2019) and Hinge (SIU Press,...
Coalition-building leads to good policy-making
By Daniel Rivkin
In 2014, Stephanie Chang (MPP/MSW '14) was approached by her community-organizing colleague, then-State Representative, now Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, to run for office. Chang...
"What do you most personally want to influence?" That's what David Fauri (MPA '64), a retired professor of social work and policy at Virginia Commonwealth University, asked himself before deciding to make a generous planned gift to the Ford...
Three inaugural Center for Racial Justice visiting fellows—Julian Brave NoiseCat, Makeda Easter, and Atinuke (Tinu) O. Adediran—reflect on the work they've pursued during their year at the Ford School.
By Lillian Chen and Rebecca Cohen (MPP...
Happy spring from Ann Arbor!
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time serving as interim dean this past year, working closely with and learning so much from our community. U-M Provost Laurie McCauley's search for a new dean is ongoing, with the...
Here are just a few of the international learning opportunities that Ford School undergraduate and graduate students have undertaken since 2020—travel courses, research projects, internships, externships, and simulations—all preparing students for...
By Daniel Rivkin
Akiho Nagano (MPP '23) and Mayu Ueno (MPP '24) were speaking in a corridor at Weill Hall, sharing thoughts about past jobs, future jobs, and their families. Roaming the halls, you can hear similar conversations, in their case in...
For many Fordies, admissions director Beth Soboleski (MPP '89) was the first person they met at Michigan. Beth is retiring this spring after 20 years of recruiting and welcoming new students at the Ford School. State & Hill sat down with her on...
"The Republicans are just in a really difficult situation, because their margin is so small and this bloc is so determined. They want to be able to stymie things if things are not going their way. This is an effort to wield as much power as they can...
A fractured superpower
States have driven important federal policy changes around voting, civil and reproductive rights, environmental protections, and more. What happens when states take it upon themselves to experiment with energy, trade, and...
Dominique Adams-Santos, Celeste Watkins-Hayes, and PhD candidate Kayonne Christy contributed a chapter, "Narratives in Context: Locating Racism and Sexism in Black Women's Health Experiences," to The Routledge Companion to...
Alan Miller (MPP '74) was a visiting adjunct professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at U-M during the fall semester, teaching a half semester course on adapting to climate change.
Steven Mehlman (MPP/JD '80) retired at the end...
Deans on the Hill
The Ford School joined U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty, then-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, to bring together policy deans Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Trevor Brown (Ohio State), and Maria Cancian (Georgetown) to talk to...
The FBI does have national security concerns about [TikTok]. Its parent company is controlled by the Chinese government…. It gives them the ability to control the recommendation algorithm, which allows them to manipulate content and—if they want...
To address our most pressing global challenges, we need professionals with the knowledge and skills to analyze complex problems, build policy coalitions, and advocate effectively"
John Ciorciari
The Ford School's two internationally-focused...
Betsey Stevenson uses the tools of her trade to empower people and improve lives
By Daniel Rivkin
An early March ice storm in Michigan caused widespread power outages and disruptions for hundreds of thousands of households. Families had to...
The results of the Russian aggression—starving people, murdering people—from that perspective, we have to help (people) so that they survive. But the cause, the causes are really more important. The cause is the bad political system in Russia....
Many internships returned to in-person or hybrid modalities this summer, taking Fordies back around the world to work with nonprofits and NGOs, governments and agencies, and consulting firms and businesses—applying the skills and knowledge they’ve...
A new graduate fellowship has been endowed in honor of former dean Michael S. Barr, thanks to a generous lead gift from Jim Hudak (MPP ’71), chair of the Ford School Committee. The Ford-Rackham Master's Awards (RMA) are one of the Ford School’s and...
In 2021, after an initial pilot test, the Ford School became the first policy school to offer all Master of Public Policy students the opportunity to work with a certified executive leadership coach during their required summer internship. In...
Distinguished sociologist
Celeste Watkins-Hayes works at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and institutions, with a special focus on urban poverty and race, class, and gender studies. She’s particularly interested in the lived...
This fall, after a national search, the Ford School selected Peter Vasher as the school’s director of career services. Vasher has been with the school since 2017 and served as associate director of graduate career services for three years. During...
The Education Policy Initiative connects researchers and policymakers—helping make good use of their one-of-a-kind secure data clearinghouse
By Daniel Rivkin
A recent research project examined the ties between school funding and crime in...
“The line of students registering to vote on Election Day stretched across the University of Michigan campus, with students waiting for over four hours. There was a palpable sense of excitement and urgency around the election on campus. For many...
