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All News Research Newsmakers SPIA Reacts Community Profiles
Wei Peng during her appearance on PBS Energy Switch. Photo courtesy of Energy Switch/PBS.
News July 21, 2026
Wei Peng Explores the Human Side of Climate Policy
Few people understand the human dimension at the heart of climate policy as well as Wei Peng.An assistant professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Peng has long brought an engineering focus to her climate policy research. She once viewed technology as the primary solution for regions struggling with energy transitions. Today, she considers that approach overly simplified. Around 2016, when she was finishing her doctorate at SPIA and the Trump administration began rolling back U.S. federal climate policies and regulations, she realized that her computational models,…
Samuel Caplan MPA ’29
News July 17, 2026
#PolicyProfile: Samuel Caplan MPA ’29
“In a high school nutrition class, I learned that a quarter of Pennsylvanians were food-insecure, which was mind-boggling to me. That was not reflected in what I was seeing day to day. As a result, I was motivated to get more involved in addressing food insecurity in my community. That experience affirmed that public service was something I wanted to do with my life. A lot of times there’s a stigma around hunger and needing support, so kids won’t disclose that they’re struggling to access enough food. My friend and I came up with an idea to connect with a local grocery store to rescue its leftover produce, and we set up cooking classes after school…
Julian Zelizer, Kim Lane Scheppele, Anastasia Mann
News July 16, 2026
Princeton SPIA Faculty Share Their Favorite Summer Books, Shows, and Podcasts
The dog days of summer provide the perfect opportunity not only to rest and recharge but also to catch up on the reading, watching, and listening that were missed amid busy schedules during the academic year. Three Princeton SPIA faculty members — Julian Zelizer, the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs, Anastasia Mann, lecturer and founding director of SPIA in NJ, and Kim Lane Scheppele, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values — provide their recommended books, television shows, and podcasts to splurge on during the summer months…
World globe with building icons. Image by Shutterstock
News July 14, 2026
Alumni Leverage Development Banking to Better the World
Before coming to the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs as a Master in Public Affairs student in 2021, Martina Bergues spent five years working in the São Paulo city government. After graduating, she shifted gears, joining the Inter-American Development Bank as a digital government consultant, first in her native Brazil and more recently in Washington, D.C.According to Bergues, the opportunity that development banking gave her to scale up her public service was a big reason for her career transition.“Before joining SPIA, I worked within a single local government,” she said. “Now, I have the chance to support more than 20 different…
computer with a resource library on the screen
News July 08, 2026
Princeton’s CITP and the NJ Office of the Public Defender Launch an AI-powered Resource Library
In a speech at the NJ AI Summit on April 11, 2024, Phil Murphy, then-Governor of New Jersey, announced his support for a new partnership between Princeton University and New Jersey’s Office of the Public Defender (NJOPD). “Together, they are working to build an AI-powered resource that will help our state’s public defenders provide the best possible representation to our most vulnerable neighbors.“Together with the NJOPD, we developed the OPD Resource Library, an AI-powered search tool to surface relevant information within the office. Given a legal question, the tool searches through appellate briefs, internal documents, and public directives, and…
Andrea Bernstein, Ethan Kapstein and Sean Wilentz
News July 08, 2026
Princeton Professors Andrea Bernstein, Ethan Kapstein and Sean Wilentz Receive Berlin Prize Fellowships
Princeton professors Andrea Bernstein, Ethan Kapstein and Sean Wilentz are among 24 recipients of this year’s Berlin Prize fellowship.The prestigious fellowship is awarded by the American Academy in Berlin to U.S. scholars, writers, composers and artists. Awardees “represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields, from the humanities and social sciences to journalism, public policy, fiction, the visual arts and music composition,” the academy said in its announcement.Fellows spend a semester at the Academy’s Hans Arnhold Center in Berlin’s Wannsee district, where they participate in public programs in addition to pursuing their…
Rory Truex
News July 07, 2026
Behind the Headline: What’s Next for the U.S.-China Relationship
The U.S.-China Summit in May created an opening for renewed dialogue around a host of issues that matter to both nations. Princeton School of Public and International Affairs students traveled to Beijing shortly after the meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. They found policymakers, academics, and students more willing to discuss political and policy differences, including trade and the question of Taiwan, on the heels of the summit.Rory Truex, an associate professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton SPIA, studies Chinese politics and theories of authoritarian rule. In this interview, he…
NaimiGreen-Riley
News July 02, 2026
A Princeton Scholar Explains the Diplomacy Behind Superpower Rivalry
Naima Green-Riley's second assignment with the U.S. Foreign Service wasn't a coincidence.While serving as a public affairs officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Alexandria, Egypt, Green-Riley focused her attention on both the Arab Spring and an uptick in global outreach by China that immediately preceded its Belt and Road Initiative — a massive infrastructure project signaling a potentially fundamental shift in global power dynamics."I was noticing a lot of Chinese activity in the Middle East and Africa in ways that were intriguing and made me want to understand China more," Green-Riley said. The State Department granted her request to be placed in…
SPIA accolades header
News June 29, 2026
SPIAccolades — June 2026
Jacob Kaplan, a criminal justice professional specialist, has been awarded a $260,00 grant from Arnold Ventures to build dedicated data infrastructure for FBI crime data. The project will focus on systematically improving the quality and usability of the dataset so that common, solvable issues are addressed once rather than requiring individual researchers to solve them repeatedly.By creating standardized infrastructure for one of the nation’s most widely used crime datasets, the project aims to strengthen the reliability of evidence used to inform research and public policy.“FBI crime data is one of the most widely used public…
Professor Daniel Kurtzer speaking to students in classroom
News June 24, 2026
For This Scholar, a Lifetime of Diplomacy Helps Shape Future Policymakers
After a lifetime of studying and participating in the politics and diplomacy of the Middle East, Daniel C. Kurtzer has measured U.S. diplomacy in the region against one event — one he helped shape more than 30 years ago.Back in 1991, Kurtzer was serving as a member of the Middle East peace team of Secretary of State James A. Baker III. Although the U.S. had been trying to convene an international Middle East peace conference since the previous administration, it took a public directive to end the Arab-Israeli conflict by President George H. W. Bush to set the stage for a breakthrough.Kurtzer, who has been the S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East…
Clara Bartnik, MPA ’27
#PolicyProfile: Clara Bartnik, MPA ’27 June 22, 2026
#PolicyProfile: Clara Bartnik, MPA ’27
“At 19, I received a scholarship to live and study abroad for the first time in Baku, Azerbaijan. The experience reshaped my understanding of cross-cultural exchange and sparked my interest in economic development, especially as I observed stark regional inequalities outside the capital. After graduating from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities during the pandemic, I began my career in public service as a contact tracer for my county. I went on to teach English at a university in Türkiye and later worked in international financial services before transitioning to economic policy. At the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of International…
A group of people in front of the Great Wall of China
News June 18, 2026
From Campus to China: Princeton SPIA Students Build People-to-People Connections
Mattie Isaac ’27 began learning Mandarin at an immersion school in Washington, D.C., as a child. She closely follows Chinese culture, enjoys the region’s cuisines, and listens to its music. Her family has hosted two exchange students from China, and she first went to the country in 2017.As a student at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Isaac has a strong interest in U.S.-China relations. Yet, up until this spring, Isaac had few opportunities to engage directly with peers and scholars in China.In May, on the heels of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Isaac was one of 11…
President Christopher Eisgruber is interviewed by NPR's Ayesha Rascoe on his book, Terms of Respect, at the Princeton SPIA DC Center in Washington.
News June 16, 2026
Princeton SPIA DC Center Hosts Faculty and Authors for ‘Books & Cocktails’
For three years, the Princeton SPIA DC Center has served as the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ policy nexus in Washington, a place for faculty, students, alumni, and policymakers from across the federal landscape to gather for dialogue, symposia, and networking.Complementing the center’s focus on policy is a policy-adjacent cultural series. For the last two years, “Books & Cocktails” has brought faculty authors and other high-profile thought leaders to its Dupont Circle locale for stimulating conversations with Princeton SPIA faculty members, prominent journalists, and experts, followed by socializing on the building’s…
Book covers for The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden; Leave If You Can; A Case for Congress; The Midnight Taxi
News June 09, 2026
SPIA Writes: Spring 2026
In addition to their teaching responsibilities, faculty from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs are also prolific authors, writing and editing books that help inform public policy, capture historic moments in time, further individual scholarship, or even just for personal pleasure. Below is a roundup of the latest books from members of our community from the spring 2026 semester. The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden: A First Historical AssessmentEdited by Julian Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public AffairsPublished by Princeton University Press From the publisher“The…
SPIAction Newsletter
News June 03, 2026
SPIAction Newsletter — June 2026
Hooding Ceremony and Class Day Emphasize Service, CommunityPrinceton SPIA celebrated its 69 master in public affairs students, 20 master in public policy graduates, and 133 baccalaureate degree recipients.