Princeton University’s 278th Commencement will mark a special anniversary for the graduates of Princeton SPIA’s Master in Public Affairs (MPA) program. The 2023-2024 cohort of the two-year program will cross the stage as members of the 75th anniversary graduating class, harkening back to the program’s origins in 1948.

For three-quarters of a century, MPA alumni have gone on to meaningful careers in federal, state, and local governments — here in the United States and around the world — NGOs and nonprofits, the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and countless organizations large and small that change the world for the better on a daily basis.

In celebration of the hallmark anniversary, alumni from nearly every decade reminisce about their favorite memories during their MPA days.

Is there a professional achievement tied to your Princeton experience?

“I spent the first 10 years of my career working on domestic poverty issues in the context of Chicago, and then I moved from there to run the Global Fund for Women as a very young CEO and president at 34. The WOO really prepared me well to both have confidence in my ability to look at a very wide range of issues, but also to feel comfortable being a generalist in a way, someone who was able to analyze and understand policy and then break it down and then think about what it meant in a particular context and in particular realities. For me, questions of gender and justice were always very important, both personally growing up in India and throughout my life. I felt like the degree that I got really gave me the kind of chops to use my head in ways that helped my heart follow where it wanted to go.”

— Kavita Ramdas MPA ’88, Senior Strategic Advisor, International Planned Parenthood Federation & Principal, KNR Sisters
 

 “I couldn't have imagined when I was taking macroeconomics from Ben Bernanke or an economics course from Alan Krueger that I would one day be covering their actions as they served in government. The same goes for Cecilia Rouse, who served in the Biden administration. It was fascinating to see these people who I had learned from going on to hold these positions and watch how they operated in that sphere.” 

— Nancy Cordes MPA ’99, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent

“My career trajectory is directly tied to the work I did at Princeton SPIA. Specifically, my policy workshop on nuclear nonproliferation issues led me to find a passion for the topic, as well as mentors in the form of my two workshop instructors: Dr. Frank von Hippel and Robert Einhorn MPA ’71. Because of that workshop, as well as other courses I took at SPIA, I was able to secure a role as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of State supporting nuclear negotiations with North Korea. I later was able to reunite with Bob Einhorn, when I went to work for him in his role as Special Advisor on Nonproliferation and Arms Control to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The rest of my career that followed built on that policy workshop, and I still rely on the mentorship of Frank and Bob to this day.”

— Richard Johnson MPA ’06, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Countering WMD Policy 
 

“The good thing about Princeton is that you have this broad perspective, not just for domestic politics but for international relations as well, not just of a liberal progressive perspective on international relations, but also very hardcore realist, traditional orientations as well. Neither side will prevail in history over the long scheme of things, so it's important to have both perspectives. Being exposed to both sides of that debate, whether it's domestic politics or international relations, has been really helpful for me in terms of retaining a balanced view about where things are going and then adjusting strategy accordingly. Having that balanced perspective was very important at Princeton, and I really appreciate the fact that they offered that full spectrum of views rather than having one particular perspective prevail or be predominant. I would say that is far and away the most invaluable lesson that I've come away with from Princeton that continues to enrich a lot of what I'm doing today.”

— Sung-Hwan Lee MPA ’08, Director-General for Strategy & Policy Planning, Korean Foreign Ministry
 

“My enrollment in the policy workshop on nuclear disarmament in 2009, which I felt was a very distant topic for me at the time, indeed laid a strong foundation for my understanding of this complex subject. It later contributed greatly to my work as an alternate representative of Thailand to the International Atomic Energy Agency from 2015-2018 and my participation in the negotiation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2017. In general, I remain truly appreciative of what I learned in and outside of the classroom. It really helped broaden my perspective and give me tools to face challenges and difficult problems.”

— Narong Silpathamtada MPA ’10, Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand