I write this as the spring semester is winding down, as WWS seniors mark the completion of their theses with a celebratory splash en masse in the Freedom Fountain behind Robertson Hall, and as our School master’s candidates prepare, in stomach-churning earnest, for their finals and qualifying exams.

This is my last message for WWS News as Acting Dean of the School, and as such I’d like to thank of all of my colleagues on the faculty, our students, and staff members for all of their help and support this academic year. It has truly been an enjoyable and fulfilling time for me. 

The School continues to be a hive of activity in terms of the teaching and research conducted by our faculty and centers, of high-level visits to campus, and in the graduate and undergraduate curricula. For example, we are in the process of admitting the first cohort of students into our successfully expanded M.P.P. program, and so we will have our first candidates for the M.P.P. for Physicians; M.P.P. for Lawyers; and M.P.P. for Ph.D. Scientists.

Likewise, we also have launched an undergraduate certificate in Global Health and Health Policy, a program open to all Princeton undergraduates, which will encourage students to explore some of the most serious domestic and international health issues of our time.

Importantly, we’ve hired eight new faculty members, all at the assistant or associate professor levels, in the fields of politics, history, economics, psychology, and sociology. Not only does this demonstrate the interdisciplinary quality of the School, but also, I believe, our commitment to bringing in the best new scholar-teachers and nurturing them in the rising arc of their careers.

And I wanted to share with you a special weekend we co-hosted in April with the Stennis Center for Public Service. WWS collaborated with the Stennis Congressional Fellows Program, a bipartisan leadership development initiative that each year brings together roughly two dozen chiefs of staff, legislative directors, staff directors, etc. from both sides of the aisle to study key issues facing Congress and the public.

April 4-5 we hosted this year’s Stennis Fellows retreat, the theme of which was “Strengthening Public Trust and Confidence in Congress.” Over two days, Fellows participated in roundtable discussions, meeting in breakout groups and grappling with issues of partisanship and public perceptions of Capitol Hill (Friday’s roundtable included School political scientist Larry Bartels, who offered his analysis).

What was most rewarding for us, however, was that the Stennis program’s staff—and the Stennis Fellows themselves—were eager to hear and learn from Woodrow Wilson School students. Sixteen WWS graduate and undergraduate students took part in a special dinner on April 4, where they debated and analyzed the issue of public trust in Congress, and worked together with senior Congressional staff in breakout groups. And at the end of the evening each student representing their group presented their findings or observations as to how to improve public trust in our government’s legislative branch.

The session with the group was not only “an opportunity to meet senior staff, but also to interact with them by sharing ideas about ways to improve public trust in Congress,” Jillian Curtis MPA ’09 told us. And Tom Niblock MPA ’09, also in attendance, said “It’s not every day that I have senior staff from Capitol Hill ask me how to improve the public’s trust in Congress. Our discussion on strategies for improving Congress was a very rewarding experience.”

In sum, just another weekend at the Woodrow Wilson School.

With sadness, I must also mention that the University recently mourned the passing of Robert F. Goheen, the University’s 16th president, who died of heart failure on March 31. A brief tribute may be found in this issue, with a link to more information on the University website. In addition, we were recently informed of the passing of Lacey Gallagher MPA ’88 in February, after a three-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Finally, as Anne-Marie Slaughter returns to us on July 1 after a year-long sabbatical in Shanghai, I will be taking a sabbatical beginning on that date, also, to focus on my latest research on the effects of partisan polarization on social policy making in the American states. Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Mark Watson will be Acting Associate Dean in my absence.

Thank you for your support and for your continued interest in the School. We hope to see you on campus soon.