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News July 29, 2025
New Report: How Congress Can Recapture the Constitutional Powers It Ceded to the Executive Branch
PRINCETON, NJ – A bipartisan group of former members of Congress and top scholars from 19 universities have outlined a systematic plan for Congress to recapture constitutional powers it has ceded to the executive branch over several decades. Focusing on four key areas, the authors explain how the powers of the presidency have expanded far beyond constitutional intent, eroding the powers that Congress is expected to exercise on the people’s behalf. They offer legislative reforms that Congress can implement to recapture its powers.The consequences are grave, reducing the input everyday Americans have on whether and when the U.S. sends young men and…
Illustration by Bumper DeJesus. Image of people in a picture frame with photos of windmills and smoke stacks in the background.
News July 28, 2025
Perspective: Making the Clean Energy Transition a Win-Win for Climate and Health
While mitigating carbon emissions often takes center stage in the clean energy transition, the shift away from a fossil fuel-driven energy system will also curb air pollution and, by extension, protect human health.However, it is not so straightforward to draw a connection between a national policy aimed at promoting electric vehicle adoption, for example, and its impacts on local air quality and health outcomes in communities.Wei Peng, an assistant professor of public and international affairs and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, recently led a perspective article in Nature Reviews Clean Technology that synthesizes her group’s…
Hal Feiveson
News July 25, 2025
SGS Co-Founder Harold A. Feiveson *72 Dies; Remembered as ‘Special Friend and Enthusiastic Educator’
Harold A. Feiveson, a two-time Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumnus who taught for decades at his alma mater and co-founded its acclaimed Program on Science and Global Security (SGS), died peacefully at his home in Princeton on July 10. He was 90.Dr. Feiveson — “Hal” to his friends — was an influential researcher in the fields of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy policy, a leading advocate for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and a warmly remembered teacher and colleague.“I can still remember the atmosphere he created in the classroom and the way he both taught and empowered us,” said Anne-Marie Slaughter ’80, whom…
Retreat co-chair Wei Peng moderated a fireside conversation between Armond Cohen and Navroz Dubash about global progress on climate goals. Photos by Lori M. Nichols.
News July 24, 2025
Experts Tout Clean Energy Pragmatism at Andlinger Center Retreat
To continue advancing global decarbonization efforts, institutions must ensure they have the capability to deliver on their climate targets, experts said at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment’s twelfth annual Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership Retreat.The retreat convened experts from across academia, industry, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the public sector to discuss strategies for navigating the energy transition in the face of lagging global progress.“Stating a very ambitious long-term goal like net-zero by 2050 is problematic without a robust and realistic plan to deliver the infrastructure implied by that commitment,”…
Noah James
News July 24, 2025
Exit Interview: Prosecuting Corporate War Crimes in Sudan
Exit Interview is an audio series produced by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Co-hosts David Mayorga, associate dean of public affairs and communications, and Ambreen Ali, senior communications and media strategist, speak with graduating students who won prizes for their senior theses, which are the culmination of a year’s worth of research, interviews, and analysis on a policy topic.Noah James won the School of Public and International Affairs Thesis Prize, awarded to the seniors who write the best thesis on racial justice, for his thesis on the Lundin Oil Trial.Listen now: The transcript below was auto-generated.Intro: This…
From Left to Right: Hiba Siddiki '25, Olivia Ragan '24, Madison Linton '24, Kimberly Cross '25, Lauren Aung '24. Photo by Sameer A. Kahn/Fotobuddy
News July 22, 2025
Staying Local, Leading Change: Garden State Fellows Make a Mark in New Jersey Policy
After graduating from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, many students land in far-flung places, launching careers in public policy all over the globe. But some are finding that staying put right here in the Garden State offers them exposure to some of the most pressing policy matters of the moment and a chance to impact local communities.As sweeping cuts at the federal level shifted the focus of policy action to the state and local level this year, the inaugural cohort of Garden State Fellows found opportunities to conduct research, lobby policymakers on behalf of immigrant communities, develop campaigns on civil rights, and…
Stacey Weber
News July 21, 2025
Assistant Dean for Finance Named at Princeton SPIA
Stacey Weber was promoted to assistant dean for finance at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.Weber had served as Princeton SPIA’s finance manager since joining the School in 2019. In that capacity, she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the finance office and managed the annual Robertson report. Over the past year, she worked closely on the budgeting process with Dean Amaney Jamal, who praised Weber for her “exceptional leadership and dedication.”“I am delighted that Stacey will be stepping into this new role, and I am deeply grateful for her contributions,” Jamal said. “I look forward to continuing our work together in this…
Lina Singh
News July 17, 2025
Exit Interview: Addressing America's Addiction to Ultra-Processed Food
Exit Interview is an audio series produced by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Co-hosts David Mayorga, associate dean of public affairs and communications, and Ambreen Ali, senior communications and media strategist, speak with graduating students who won prizes for their senior theses, which are the culmination of a year’s worth of research, interviews, and analysis on a policy topic.Lina Singh won the Lieutenant John A. Larkin Memorial Prize, awarded to the senior who writes the best thesis in the field of political economy or on a broadly interdisciplinary subject in which economics plays the most important part, for her…
Vincent Jiang ’25
News July 10, 2025
Exit Interview: Why Xi Jinping Fired His Top Generals
Exit Interview is an audio series produced by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Co-hosts David Mayorga, associate dean of public affairs and communications, and Ambreen Ali, senior communications and media strategist, speak with graduating students who won prizes for their senior theses, which are the culmination of a year’s worth of research, interviews, and analysis on a policy topic.Vincent Jiang won the Myron T. Herrick Prize, awarded to the writer of the best senior thesis in the School of Public and International Affairs, for his thesis on military purges in the Chinese Communist Party and coup-proofing strategies.Listen…
SPIAction Newsletter
News July 08, 2025
SPIAction Newsletter — July 2025
Dear Princeton SPIA community,While campus may have quieted down with the onset of summer break, the School’s faculty continue to participate in dialogue about national and global issues. In particular, I invite you to read their analyses (June 18; June 23) of the Israel-Iran conflict. At Princeton SPIA, our faculty and students are unyielding in confronting the big questions facing the world — and offering solutions.From peer-reviewed papers by SPIA researchers to award-winning theses by SPIA seniors, the members of our community stand as pillars of scholarship and engagement. I am proud of all of them and grateful for all they do in service of the…
Pascaline Dupas, Jacob Shapiro, Julian Zelizer
News July 08, 2025
Audiobooks, Podcasts, Live Music, TV, and Movies for the Summer
Princeton SPIA faculty members spend the academic year awash in reading material. Policy papers, scholarly articles, books, student assignments, and more sit on desks, coffee tables, and nightstands, awaiting perusal.With summer here, we were curious: What do the School’s faculty watch and listen to when they have some free time? Pascaline Dupas, a professor of economics and public affairs, is listening to the audio version of Lydia Reeder’s history “The Cure for Women: Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Challenge to Victorian Medicine That Changed Women's Lives…
Heather Howard
News July 03, 2025
Tackling Healthcare Reform at the State Level – With an $8.8 Million Grant Renewal
The passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 set off a whirlwind of activity among the states, which would be responsible for enacting many of the law’s provisions. With numerous legal and healthcare complexities looming, state governments were faced with a lot of regulatory work to do and not much expertise with which to do it.With fortuitous timing, not long before the ACA was passed, Heather Howard had left her post as New Jersey's Commissioner of Health and Senior Services and joined the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs as a lecturer. With experience in all three branches of government, in the statehouse and on Capitol Hill,…
people at an event
News July 02, 2025
State AI Leaders Gather at Princeton To Reimagine Public Services
Much of the news about artificial intelligence has focused on how it will change the private sector. But all around the country, public officials are experimenting with how AI can also transform the way governments provide essential services to citizens while avoiding pitfalls.State AI leaders, including Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, gathered at Princeton University in June to discuss how AI offers ways for government to be more efficient, effective, and transparent, especially at a time when budgets are strapped and economic uncertainty has slowed down hiring.Hosted by Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP), the New Jersey AI…
Fiona Galvis
News June 30, 2025
Exit Interview: Protections Against the Use of Chemical Weapons
Exit Interview is an audio series produced by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Co-hosts David Mayorga, associate dean of public affairs and communications, and Ambreen Ali, senior communications and media strategist, speak with graduating students who won prizes for their senior theses, which are the culmination of a year’s worth of research, interviews, and analysis on a policy topic.Fiona Galvis won the Richard H. Ullman Prize, awarded to the seniors who write the best thesis on a subject with foreign policy implications for the United States, for her thesis about the effectiveness of mechanisms to curb the use of small…
Sam Chiang
News June 20, 2025
Exit Interview: Ukraine’s Use of Drones to Thwart Russia
Exit Interview is an audio series produced by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Co-hosts David Mayorga, associate dean of public affairs and communications, and Ambreen Ali, senior communications and media strategist, speak with graduating students who won prizes for their senior theses, which are the culmination of a year’s worth of research, interviews, and analysis on a policy topic.Sam Chiang won the Richard H. Ullman Prize, awarded to the seniors who write the best thesis on a subject with foreign policy implications for the United States, for his thesis about the use of drones in the Russia-Ukraine war.Listen now: The…