The 2008-09 academic year has been a time of great change, as we have we have bid temporary farewell to several colleagues – including our Dean - who have taken public service leaves to join the new Obama administration; of great promise as we prepare to watch this year’s graduates transition into the next phase of their careers; and of great challenges, as the Woodrow Wilson School and Princeton deal with the ongoing economic crisis.

I write this message as Interim Dean because earlier this year Anne-Marie Slaughter ’80 resigned as Dean to lead the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department – since her arrival in 2002 Anne-Marie has expanded the School’s programs and faculty, while raising the profile of WWS in Washington, D.C. and around the globe. She has led the School with unmatched warmth and enthusiasm, and she is missed.

Anne-Marie is joined “in the nation’s service” in Washington, I’m proud to note, by School Professors of Economics and Public Affairs Cecilia Rouse and Alan Krueger; Ceci now serves on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Alan is Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Treasury. Also, Alexandre Mas — who was recently a visiting faculty member at WWS and has accepted our offer to join the faculty permanently — has been named Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor. He will return to us in September 2010.

In addition, Professor of Astrophysics and International Affairs Christopher Chyba has been selected by President Obama to serve on the President’s Council on Science and Technology – an advisory post which allows him to remain on the faculty, thankfully!

But Anne-Marie’s departure means we are now in the midst of a search for a new Dean – Princeton President Shirley Tilghman has assembled a faculty search committee chaired by the School’s Douglas Massey, and we hope to have good news to report to you before the beginning of the next academic year.

In this issue you will read about the latest research and initiatives of the School’s faculty, programs, and students – including details about the wonderfully successful 2009 Princeton Colloquium on Public and International Affairs, and the launching of our new Center for International Security Studies – all of which allows readers a glimpse into the vibrant community of scholars at WWS as they investigate major policy problems. Yet I would be remiss if I failed to note the impacts of the ongoing economic crisis here on campus.

In particular, the Woodrow Wilson School is implementing budget reductions consistent with President Tilghman’s recent letters to the University community about the economic downturn. She has said that our planning should be based on a 30 percent drop in value of the endowment, and the Provost has asked schools and departments to reduce spending from endowment income by eight percent in the next fiscal year - and to be prepared for a similar reduction in the next fiscal year. In the School we have achieved this goal for next year by reducing the number of visiting faculty, spending by our research centers, and our administrative budgets. We have not reduced the size or support for our undergraduate, M.P.A. or M.P.P. programs. Importantly, the guiding principle is that any possible reductions have minimal impact on the high quality of our undergraduate and graduate programs. These are the programs that make WWS the world’s best school of public and international affairs, a distinction we don’t plan to lose.  

Finally, it is with great sadness I note that our friend and colleague Smitu Kothari passed away on March 23. He was 58. We remember him in this issue of WWS News, and we’ve included information so that you may help remember him, also.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of the School; I encourage you to keep up to date with WWS via our website wws.princeton.edu

Mark W. Watson
Interim Dean, Woodrow Wilson School
wwsdean@princeton.edu