State & Hill

As part of the Practical Community Learning Project (PCLP), a semester-long independent policy-based community project in Detroit, community engagement manager DeAndré J. Calvert and a team of Ford School students worked on digital access with the...

Michael S. Barr’s first term as dean By Laura K. Lee In October 2021, the Regents of the University of Michigan approved Provost Susan M. Collins’ recommendation to reappoint Michael S. Barr as Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the Ford School for a...

By Rebecca Cohen (MPP '09) An essential ingredient to developing good policy is understanding what people want and need, and how they experience their lives," says Elisabeth Gerber, Jack L. Walker, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Public Policy and...

Philip Power, class of 1960, served on the University of Michigan Board of Regents from 1987 to 1999. Power, his parents, and his wife Kathy have supported the U-M Museum of Art, U-M Student Publications, the University Musical Society and the...

Ford School faculty members often engage in collective problem-solving--with other scholars, of course, but also with policymakers and practitioners all around the world. The goal of these collaborations? Finding better solutions, and mutually...

"I'm Susan Collins, the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy." It's been ten years since Susan M. Collins joined the Ford School as "the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy," a phrase she has repeated, with no small amount of...

The Ford School has a long history of emphasizing engaged learning. Many of the big-ticket experiences, like the Integrated Policy Exercise (IPE), Applied Policy Seminar (APS) now called Strategic Public Policy Consulting (SPPC), International...

When Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA), wanted to document the economic impact of her organization and others like it around the state of Michigan last fall, she sought help from the Ford...

International development interns put ideas to work One block down Hill Street, just west of State, is Ali Baba's, a small Middle Eastern restaurant with habit-forming grape leaves and baklava. Any day of the week, you're sure to find a table, or...

Jeff Barnes (MPP '09) had never run a political campaign before Michigan gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder promoted him to campaign manager in August. The choice made sense for Snyder, a technology entrepreneur running for his first public office....

In winter 2008, five Ford School MPP students assessed alternative scenarios for consolidating emergency dispatch efforts within Washtenaw County. The students constructed a sophisticated economic model, interviewed multiple actors to produce...

Applied Policy Seminar Evolves With Student Interests In the shadow of the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge, Mexicantown's authentic restaurants and bakeries delight tourists and locals. Every year, millions of Midwesterners drive through the...