Dear Princeton SPIA community,
As the end of another year approaches, I want to share how grateful I am for all you do for the School. Thanks to your work and support, 2024 has seen Princeton SPIA rise to the occasion in numerous areas. As always, we remained responsive to the needs and interests of our students, especially in the areas of international opportunities and public service. A full telling of all our successes is not possible here, but I am proud to point to several key achievements:
Expanding Internationalization Efforts: Students traveled the world on policy trips, from Finland to Saudi Arabia, and faculty members crossed the globe to conduct research on topics ranging from China’s clean-heating policy to crop burning in South Asia. We welcomed diverse perspectives as we continued our programming on the crisis in the Middle East. Our premier Latin America Conference in the Spring brought together dozens of government officials and senior leaders from the public and private sectors for lively discussions and unique perspectives on opportunities for Latin America and the U.S. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Political Committee spent a day on campus for a series of private briefings by SPIA faculty and a public discussion. This fall’s Dean’s Leadership Series speakers included two heads of state, and we began a yearlong focus on Asia.
Engaging Policymakers: Our award-winning faculty and students continued to do groundbreaking work in a wide range of fields with direct relevance to pressing domestic and foreign policy issues. They helped explain and contextualize this year’s elections in dozens of media outlets and through public events. Our SPIA in D.C. Center hosted more than 80 gatherings on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to sovereign debt, while the SPIA in New Jersey initiative presented insightful programming on some of the biggest challenges in our home state, including government transparency and racial and economic justice. We presented a robust series of programs on November’s elections, with a bipartisan slate of guests. Our Policy Workshops took students to Phoenix, Arizona, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the School hosted a first-of-its kind panel discussion on criminal justice reform featuring speakers from both the left and the right.
Fostering Greater Diversity and Inclusion: This year’s incoming graduate class had the highest number of different countries ever represented. Weekly DEI Dinners and annual events including the SAOC Spring Symposium and Fall Retreat gave students of all backgrounds the opportunity to share their diverse identities, experiences, and perspectives while discussing the intersections of D&I and public policy. Perhaps most importantly, the School served as a gathering place for constructive dialogue in a respectful environment where people were free and empowered to share different viewpoints on topics ranging from New Jersey’s economic goals to the prosecution of genocide to technology policy.
Building a Cohesive Princeton SPIA Community: A variety of distinguished scholars and practitioners from institutions such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury joined our community as faculty members. Alumni events in New York, Chicago, Washington, Seattle, Japan, India, and elsewhere gave our graduates across the country and around the world the chance to socialize, network, and learn about what’s happening at the School. And SPIA alumni were as generous as always in serving as support for students in their career journeys.
There remains more work to do. We are committed to giving our students the opportunity to hear from as wide a variety of perspectives as possible, and I am excited about what we have planned for the spring semester. There is much to look forward to!
Thank you again. I hope you have a restful and happy holiday season, and warmest wishes for a prosperous and peaceful 2025.
Warm regards,
Amaney Jamal
Dean