Health Sector Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean
The World Bank

When Keith Hansen was a student at the Woodrow Wilson School, HIV/AIDS had only recently been discovered. Other than within the public health discipline, it was not even a major policy issue--and certainly was not seen as a potential threat to global development. Today, as the health sector manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, Keith works at the center of this global policy issue on a daily basis.

"The School's unique blend of politics, economics, organizational studies, psychology, and even philosophy courses provided an education more relevant and suited to the long term than I imagined. The education I received was focused on giving students the tools and analytic abilities to examine whatever issues might arise through the course of a person's career.

"In looking at the School's alumni directory listing of typical first-year jobs of graduating students, I was impressed that more than any other school of public policy, WWS graduates tended to go into public service, or into innovative areas of civil society, such as NGOs, nonprofits, or philanthropy. And now, as then, I'm impressed with how the School continues to adapt to suit the times. With the recent creation of the graduate Certificate in Health and Health Policy, I am gratified that the School has devoted such attention to this issue. This is an excellent example of how the School builds a policy-relevant curriculum, and it will give students both the substantive technical grounding and the analytical tools necessary to work effectively in global health.

"My time at WWS was fascinating, fulfilling, and fun--and it exceeded my already high expectations. The depth and breadth of expertise among the faculty, and the diversity of experiences and energy among my fellow students, made for a potent mix. It has been 18 years since I graduated and it still strikes me just how much I continue to draw on and appreciate my years at the School. That is one of the reasons I've chosen to go back to WWS and teach; it continues to refresh that exposure and that spirit of engagement in ideas that helped get my career off to the strongest possible start."