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News October 05, 2023
Wei Peng Appears on PBS’ Energy Switch to Talk China’s Energy and Climate Policies
When it comes to energy use and production, China stands alone. The country consumes more coal, produces more solar panels, installs more solar and wind, and builds more power plants and hydro dams, all while creating nearly a third of the world’s CO2 emissions. Wei Peng, an assistant professor of public and international affairs and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, was a guest on PBS’ Energy Switch for a two-part series on China’s energy and climate policies. “China is an important part of the problem,” Peng said. “Thirty percent of emissions come from China. But on the other side, there are other people who see China as a…
MacArthur Fellows
News October 04, 2023
Four Princeton Alumni Awarded MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grants
Four Princetonians have been awarded 2023 MacArthur Fellowships. Recipients Andrea Armstrong *01 and Diana Greene Foster *98 are graduate alumni of the School of Public and International Affairs. Lester Mackey, Class of 2007, earned his B.S.E. in computer science. Courtney Bryan was a postdoc in African American studies from 2014 to 2016. Each points back to their Princeton experience as an influence for their work in law, public health, data science and the arts, and their accomplishments reflect the University’s pervasive commitment to service. The four Princetonians are among 20 scientists, artists and scholars across the country who each will…
Janet Currie
News October 03, 2023
SPIA Economist Wins Prestigious Jacobs Research Prize
Janet M. Currie, an economist at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, has been awarded the prestigious Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize by the Zurich, Switzerland-based Jacobs Foundation. She will receive the prize, endowed with 1 million Swiss francs, at a ceremony at the University of Zurich in November. Currie, the Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs and co-director of SPIA’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, with a joint appointment to the Department of Economics, was cited for her “foundational work on the influence of context such as policy decisions, environment, or health systems on child development.” …
SPIA NJ Fellows
News September 29, 2023
SPIA in New Jersey Names Inaugural Policy Fellows
The inaugural SPIA in New Jersey Policy Fellows come from diverse backgrounds, ranging from social justice and journalism to policy and advocacy, with all having done important work in the Garden State. The Fellowship program brings to SPIA experienced, mid-career professionals with track records of significant public policy engagement statewide, with the goals of sharing knowledge, experience, research, analytic acumen, contacts, and/or insight to advance the mission and objectives of SPIA in NJ. As Fellows, they will undertake a variety of initiatives either individually or in collaboration with others, including but not limited to research/white…
group of students
News September 29, 2023
LISD International Policy Associates Meet with Gov. Murphy Ahead of Visit to Germany
Sixteen International Policy Associates of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination were in Trenton last month to meet with Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy at the State Capitol. LISD Acting Director Sophie Meunier, a senior research scholar in SPIA, and Executive Director Nadia Crisan joined the undergraduate students on the visit. The IPAs, who travel to Berlin, Germany, for a fall break trip, heard Murphy discuss his experience serving as U.S. ambassador to that country from 2009 to 2013 and as the Garden State’s chief executive. He described New Jersey as one of the…
Denise Mauzerall
News September 28, 2023
Mauzerall Named American Geophysical Union Fellow
Denise Mauzerall has joined exclusive company. She is one of 53 individuals this year to have been elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world’s largest Earth and space sciences association. The distinction is rare — throughout AGU’s history, only 0.1% of members have ever become Fellows. Mauzerall, the William S. Tod Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Public and International Affairs, analyzes the impacts of energy technology choices on air quality, public health, food security, and greenhouse gas mitigation. Her research group conducts policy-relevant scientific research utilizing regional and global…
United Nations building
News September 28, 2023
SPIA at the U.N. General Assembly
More than 150 students, alumni, and faculty of the School of Public and International Affairs gathered in New York last week for activities connected with the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The first event, on September 21, was a panel discussion among four alumni about the U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all of the member states in 2015, at their approximate halfway point. Razia Iqbal, the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor and Lecturer in SPIA, moderated. The alumni panelists were Ambassador Christopher P. Lu BA ’88, representative of the U.S. to the United Nations for U.N…
Zach Vertin
News September 27, 2023
Princeton SPIA Appoints Head of Washington, D.C., Initiative
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs has appointed Zach Vertin, an experienced policy analyst, writer, and diplomat, to serve as the first director of its SPIA in D.C. initiative, which launched in May. Vertin, who holds a Master in Public Policy from the School, begins his duties October 2. He comes to SPIA from the Biden administration, where he served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, working on a range of policy issues across the U.N. system, as well as the future of multilateralism, global governance reform, and U.S-China relations. Vertin also served in the Obama administration as director of…
Pascaline Dupas
News September 22, 2023
Fill in the Blanks with Pascaline Dupas
At the intersection of global economics and household poverty analysis is Pascaline Dupas, a professor of economics and public affairs and co-director of the Research Program in Development Economics. Dupas officially joined Princeton in July after 12 years at Stanford University. Get to know one of the newest members of the SPIA community as she clues us in about her research interests and where you’ll most likely find her on a Saturday night. My research explores … policies and programs that can help reduce global poverty. I partner with governments, , and civil society organizations to tackle pressing problems facing the very poor. We know that…
News September 19, 2023
Research From SPIA Highlights the Growing Field of Quantitative Critical Race Theory
The nascent field of Quantitative Critical Race Theory, or QuantCrit, applies the insights of Critical Race Theory to improve the use of statistical data in social research. And it is ripe for "innovation, experimentation, and exploration," according to a new paper by Wendy Castillo, a lecturer of public and international affairs. The paper, "Transforming the future of quantitative educational research: a systematic review of enacting QuantCrit," was published in the journal Race Ethnicity and Education in August and was co-authored by Nathan Babb, who received his Master in Public Affairs from the School of Public and International Affairs in 2021…
Public Service Career Day
News September 18, 2023
A Better Sense of Service
According to White House documentation, 15 percent of the federal government workforce is eligible to retire today, and 30 percent are eligible in the next five years. Just 7 percent of federal employees are under 30 years old, reports FEDweek. With these sobering data as a backdrop, the School of Public and International Affairs and the Center for Career Development are hosting Princeton’s first-ever Public Service Career Day. The event will be held Friday, September 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., in Robertson Hall, and is open to students in all majors and programs. SPIA alumni employed in various sectors of public service – including federal,…
Nine Princeton students completed summer internships at the Telethon Kids Institute (TKI) in Perth, Australia.
News September 15, 2023
Princeton Students Impact Global Health
This summer, Princeton University students took on some of the world’s most critical public health challenges – from fighting AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, to curbing antimicrobial resistance and understanding the drivers of climate change. Princeton’s Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW) sponsored 88 opportunities for students to pursue global health internships as well as senior thesis research and other health-focused endeavors. The fully funded internships, spanning six continents and 20 cities, offered immersive experiences for undergraduate and graduate students interested in global health. Designed to enrich academic coursework, these…
The Injustice of Place book cover
News September 15, 2023
‘We Need Help to Get Ahead’
In 2015, Kathryn Edin, the William Church Osborn Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs and co-director of SPIA’s Center for Research on Child and Family Wellbeing, and the University of Michigan’s H. Luke Shaefer published $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America. Their documentation of the rise of extreme poverty in the U.S., seen through the eyes of the impoverished families they profiled, landed on numerous best-of lists, including that of The New York Times, which tabbed it as a Notable Book of the Year. Edin and Shaefer reunited – and were joined by Timothy Nelson, a lecturer of public affairs – to produce The Injustice of Place:…
widner
News September 15, 2023
Innovations for Successful Societies Creates Anticorruption Courses for Ukraine Civil Servants
As Ukraine rebuilds and rebounds after responding to Russia’s war, SPIA’s Innovations for Successful Societies (ISS) program has extended a helping hand to the European country. ISS director Jennifer Widner has been working alongside Oksana Nesterenko of National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy’s Anticorruption Research and Education Center (ACREC) and anticorruption specialists to deliver focused training for compliance officers and civil society monitors in Ukraine. “Construction is a corruption magnet,” said Widner, a professor of politics and international affairs. “There are many points at which conflicts of interest between project goals and…
JSI 2023 cohort
News September 13, 2023
JSI Program Nears 40 Years of Public Policy Possibilities
June and July usually mark a time of rest and relaxation in higher education, but for students looking to polish their public policy prowess, Princeton’s Junior Summer Institute (JSI) is the place to be. For nearly 40 years, Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) has hosted a Junior Summer Institute to prepare students from diverse backgrounds for graduate study and careers in public policy. “The future of equitable public policy in our society requires representation, experience, and knowledge from diverse voices,” said SPIA Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Rayna Truelove. JSI provides an entry point into…