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robertson pillars blue
News January 22, 2026
Princeton SPIA Faculty Raise Important Questions About Immigration Enforcement Actions Across U.S.
Faculty Provide Analysis on Legality, Unintended Consequences, and Implications of ICE RaidsPRINCETON, NJ – Faculty from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs are raising questions that policymakers and the media should consider as the Trump Administration escalates the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to cities across the United States. They call into question the constitutionality of immigration enforcement tactics, the global consequences of these actions, and the societal costs. Barbara Buckinx, Research…
collage of microphone, books and people
News January 22, 2026
Even Outside the Classroom, Faculty Educate in Many Ways
Members of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs faculty neither vote on legislative bills nor implement those that are approved and signed into law. They aren’t roaming statehouse corridors or city halls, they don’t disburse grant funding, and their nonprofit work is largely confined to the University.Yet their impact on public understanding of policy is significant. Outside the classroom and away from scholarly journals, Princeton SPIA’s teachers and researchers nonetheless educate in a variety of ways. Below is a sampling of their activities.Compelling CommentaryPerhaps the faculty’s most visible and far-reaching influence, at…
Hilke Schellmann
News January 20, 2026
CITP’s Hilke Schellmann Studies AI’s Impact on Facts, Society
Journalists are tasked with reporting facts about the world, a job that has become much more complicated with the increasing use of artificial intelligence, which has made it easier to manipulate content and disseminate false information. Investigative reporter Hilke Schellmann says that means journalists like her must embrace a more expansive role in helping society discern fiction from reality.Schellmann is a visiting professional at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) and an associate professor of journalism at New York University. While at CITP, a joint initiative of the Princeton School of Public and…
Simon O’Donnell MPP ’26 (left) with media trainers Kim Abbott and Linda Roth.
News January 15, 2026
How SPIA’s Graduate Career Development Office Cultivates Skills for Future Public Servants
A few years ago, Naima Green-Riley wanted to start incorporating media training into one of her classes in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton SPIA). But when an already packed syllabus precluded enough time for a full day in the University’s Broadcast Media Center, Green-Riley, an assistant professor of politics and international affairs, turned to the school’s Graduate Career Development (GCD) office to find a solution.The GCD staff and Green-Riley collaborated to bring two professional media trainers from Washington, D.C., to campus for a special daylong training session, which has turned into an annual offering. The…
people at an event
News January 13, 2026
AI, Policy, and the Future of Care Take Center Stage at Healthcare Summit
Even for an industry constantly in flux, these are trying times in healthcare. An estimated 22 million Americans faced having their health premiums more than double at the end of last year, per KFF, and Medicaid will see nearly $1 trillion in cuts over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.These policy shifts will likely result in millions of people becoming uninsured, and hospitals – which often bear the burden of treating uninsured patients – are already beleaguered. Approximately 40% of U.S. hospitals lost money last year, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.Amid all this, there is a technology that holds the promise of…
Sam Anschell, MPA ’27
Community Profile January 12, 2026
#PolicyProfile: Sam Anschell, MPA ’27
“Some of humanity’s greatest welfare improvements have come from policy decisions — securing public funding for smallpox vaccines, advancing agricultural techniques to prevent famine, or banning lead contamination across a host of countries. As a grantmaker on Coefficient Giving’s Global Aid Policy program, I investigated grants to support think tanks, civil society organizations, and government affairs groups working to increase the scale and cost-effectiveness of wealthy governments’ foreign assistance. One component of my work involved bringing policymakers face-to-face with evidence-based programs. I joined delegations of Japanese and South…
SPIAction Newsletter
News January 12, 2026
SPIAction Newsletter — January 2026
Princeton SPIA Meets the Moment in 2025 For Princeton SPIA, 2025 was a year that required meeting an extraordinary moment. Here are some of the storylines we followed this year.
Bing Lin ’16, Ph.D. ’21
News January 07, 2026
This SPIA Alum is a ‘Bright Spot’ on the International Storytelling Stage
As an undergraduate student studying ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University, Bing Lin ’16, Ph.D. ’21 traveled to Honduras for field work that saw him work on two coral reef patches that, despite their proximity, featured completely different fish and coral compositions. Investigating this juxtaposition was a lightbulb moment for Lin, who found that applying real-world methods to scientific questions was exactly his speed.“I could put on my thinking cap and answer questions that no one knew the answers to,” he said.It was the adventure that began a journey for Lin under the sea.Today, Lin is a conservation scientist at the University…
U.S. and Venezuela flags
News January 05, 2026
Princeton SPIA Faculty React to U.S. Capture of Venezuelan President Maduro
Faculty Provide Analysis on Legality, International Implications, and Venezuela’s Future PRINCETON, NJ – Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States, faculty from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs are sharing expert perspectives to provide context and clarity on the potential implications for Venezuela and Latin America, the effects on oil prices and global energy markets, questions of legality and use of executive power, as well as broader signals for containing adversaries such as China, Iran, and North Korea. Implications for Venezuela and Latin America …
Dayton Ashby, MPA ’27
Community Profile January 05, 2026
#PolicyProfile: Dayton Ashby, MPA ’27
“I entered college planning to study the world, but working in my own backyard in Mississippi ultimately changed my path and shifted my focus from diplomacy to the urgent reality of American poverty. I was born and raised in Mississippi, and attended @olemiss, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies and political science. Early on, I imagined a career in public service but didn’t know where to focus my energies. As the pandemic reshaped both global and local priorities, I began to question where my impact would be most felt. Through the Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement (grishammcleanum), I became…
Katherine Ho
News December 18, 2025
Katherine Ho, Esteemed Health Economist and ‘True Role Model,’ Dies at 53
Katherine “Kate” Ho, the John L. Weinberg Professor of Economics and Business Policy, died on Dec. 8, 2025, surrounded by family. She was 53. A memorial will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., in New York.Ho joined Princeton’s faculty in July 2018 and co-directed the Center for Health and Wellbeing in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs from 2018 to 2024. Her research interests included industrial organization and health economics, particularly how the structure of health and medical care markets, as well as interactions between healthcare companies, impact…
APL Nov. 13 event
News December 18, 2025
Policy Reform in Afghanistan A Student-led Discussion with APL Affiliate - Abdullah Azizi
On November 13, the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ Afghanistan Policy Lab and the School’s SPIA Diversity & Inclusion Team co-hosted a panel discussion on the topic “Reform and Government Effectiveness in Afghanistan.” Princeton SPIA students Heather Mercer MPP ’26, Valerie Chua MPA ’26, and Mert Ozturkoglu BA ’28 and former APL affiliate Abdullah Azizi led the discussion. Former APL Affiliate delivering the presentation The event opened with a presentation by Azizi, who outlined the existing theoretical models and empirical studies, stating they provide narrowly scoped diagnostic tools and overly…
Robertson Hall, Princeton University. Photo By Nicole Guglielmo
News December 16, 2025
Princeton SPIA Meets the Moment in 2025
For the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, 2025 was a year that required meeting an extraordinary moment.Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, the new administration initiated significant changes in the federal workforce. For an institution and an alumni base so deeply rooted in public service, adaptability and resilience were paramount. The School pivoted in numerous ways, welcoming a variety of speakers who discussed the various pathways to service, connecting alumni with students and with one another, and leveraging the SPIA DC Center’s capacity as a hub for policy discourse, networking, dialogue, and professional growth…
Image by Shutterstock / Billion Photos
News December 11, 2025
Princeton Summit Charts Future of Criminal Justice Open Data
The growing amount of data available on the United States criminal justice system has made it much easier for researchers to gain deep insights into it. But the diverse community of practitioners advancing that work — including academics, public agencies, journalists, lawyers, and computer scientists — often operate in siloes that limit awareness, lead to inefficiencies in effort, and reduce the potential impact of such insights.To help break those siloes down, the Criminal Justice Initiative at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs convened an open data summit in August, supported by funding from Arnold Ventures, for national…
map of caribbean
News December 10, 2025
Princeton SPIA Faculty Share Expert Perspectives on Caribbean Boat Strikes
PRINCETON, NJ – Following recent reports of boat strikes in the Caribbean involving the United States, faculty from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton SPIA) are sharing expert perspectives to provide context and clarity, and potential implications of the situation. Eduardo Bhatia, John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor and Visiting Lecturer in Public and International Affairs:"Recent Caribbean boat strikes continue to make headlines, and my policy and legal conclusion is unequivocal: these interventions are illegal. They violate established maritime law requiring interdiction…