PRINCETON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS
Annual Report 2023-2024
MESSAGE
MISSION
INTERNATIONALIZATION
SPIA
SPIA
IN APRIL 2024, SPIA HOSTED THE PANEL, NATO AT 75: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
DEAN AMANEY JAMAL
Not long after the 2023–24 academic year got underway, the Israel-Hamas conflict began. Princeton SPIA responded immediately, planning and executing a series of virtual and in-person lectures and discussions featuring expert analysis from our faculty and alumni and other external scholars.
I was proud to contribute to these efforts. I joined my friend Keren Yarhi-Milo, dean of the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, in publishing a New York Times commentary that called for civility and empathy in discussing the conflict and argued that university campuses are ideal places for such difficult but necessary conversations. Keren and I then participated in a pair of dialogues – first at Princeton, followed by Columbia – on the topic, with President Eisgruber moderating the talk here.
Over the course of the year, we continued our programming on the war, but that was hardly our sole focus. As you’ll read in the pages that follow, we made great progress in advancing our strategic pillars.
I am especially pleased that we concluded a year of internationalization efforts centered on Central and South America with our premier Latin America Conference. The gathering brought together dozens of government officials and senior leaders from the public and private sectors – including three former heads of state – for lively discussions and unique perspectives on the opportunities ahead for Latin America and the United States.
The following week, 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 on the future of NATO.
I could not be prouder of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and look forward to continuing our great work together.
Amaney Jamal Dean
MISSION AND STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
OUR MISSION
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs dedicates itself to integrating world-class scholarship and a commitment to service in order to make a positive difference in the world.
Our faculty, staff, and students develop and lead creative approaches to the challenges of public and international affairs, with particular emphasis on diverse scholarly perspectives and evidence-based analysis.
We welcome a robust exchange of ideas and strive to foster a close-knit community that values and supports every member.
We believe that public policy in the 21st century demands a passion for service, a respect for evidence of unsurpassed quality, a global perspective, and a multiplicity of voices.
In Service to the Nation & Humanity
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Expanding internationalization efforts
Fostering greater diversity, equity, and inclusion
Expanding our influence in New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
Building a cohesive SPIA community
STUDENTS RELAX IN FRONT OF ROBERTSON HALL AND THE FOUNTAIN OF FREEDOM.
INTERNATIONALIZATION
For the 2023-24 academic year, Central and South America was a primary focus of Princeton SPIA’s global efforts, and the School’s faculty and staff engaged with the region in numerous ways.
Most prominent was the premier Latin America Conference, which welcomed dozens of Latin American government officials and senior leaders from the public and private sectors to Robertson Hall for lively discussions and unique perspectives on the opportunities ahead for Latin America and the United States. The keynote speakers included three former heads of state: Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, and Iván Duque of Colombia.
In addition, over winter break, SPIA graduate students traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Medellín, Colombia, while a dozen undergraduates visited Uruguay.
SPIA’s internationalization initiatives extended beyond Central and South America as well. The School presented an abundance of programming analyzing the Israel-Hamas war and welcomed the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Political Committee
to campus for a series of private briefings with faculty members.
At the centers and programs level, SPIA’s Innovations for Successful Societies worked with anticorruption specialists to deliver focused training for compliance officers and civil society monitors in Ukraine. ISS also released summaries and analyses of hundreds of Ukrainian laws pertaining to reconstruction in an effort to help the country rebuild infrastructure the Russian invasion has destroyed or damaged.
A new project, Initiatives on Contemporary European Affairs, launched to advance SPIA faculty’s important scholarship, teaching, and programming on present-day political issues in Europe. The Center for Health and Wellbeing sponsored a trip to Kenya to give 19 Princeton juniors minoring in global health and health policy a deeper understanding of global health challenges in a lower-
H.E. IVÁN DUQUE, FORMER PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA, ADDRESSES ATTENDEES OF SPIA’S LATIN AMERICA CONFERENCE. HE WAS THE FINAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER OF THE TWO-DAY CONFERENCE.
middle income country. The Empirical Studies of Conflict project convened 30 policy experts and scholars from the United States, Western Europe, and the Middle East at the SPIA in D.C. center for a conference on the 50th anniversary of OPEC’s 1973-74 oil embargo.
Sixteen International Policy Associates of the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination
traveled to Berlin, Germany, for a fall break trip after meeting with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to the country. SPIA students attended the Annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group, the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the Bonn Climate Change Conference.
SPIA IN D.C.
In its first full year as the School’s dedicated, physical presence in the nation’s capital, SPIA in D.C. hosted a wide range of gatherings that connected faculty members, students, and policymakers.
DIPLOMATIC CORPS DINNER SERIES
Ambassadors from Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region were guests at a pair of dinners at which SPIA faculty members offered analysis of issues germane to the respective locales.
INSIDE D.C.: UNDERGRAD POLICY DAY IN WASHINGTON
Forty undergraduate students visited the Center for “Inside D.C.: Undergrad Policy Day in Washington,” which included conversations with policymakers, veteran journalists, NGO leaders, and former government officials.
STUDENT CAREER DAY EVENTS AND ALUMNI RECEPTION
Princeton SPIA graduate students were at SPIA in D.C. for a career day. The program included conversations with SPIA alumni serving as political appointees, site visits to international development organizations, and a rooftop networking reception with alumni.
GLOBALIZATION, THE U.S. ECONOMY, AND POLITICAL BACKLASH
SPIA in D.C. and the Peterson Institute for International Economics co-hosted a public discussion titled “Globalization, the U.S. Economy, and Political Backlash.” Helen V. Milner, the B.C. Forbes Professor of Politics and International Affairs and the director of the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, represented SPIA.
PRINCETON SOVEREIGN FINANCE LAB WORKSHOP
Layna Mosley, a professor of politics and international affairs, and the Princeton Sovereign Finance Lab held a two-day workshop titled “The Politics of Sovereign Finance” on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings. Some 90 scholars, policymakers, and private sector participants debated contemporary issues in the realm of sovereign finance.
DEAN AMANEY JAMAL GIVES THE OPENING REMARKS AT SPIA IN D.C.’S “GLOBAL CHALLENGES 2024” WITH GENERAL MARK MILLEY ’80 AND CBS NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT NANCY CORDES MPA ’99.
BOOKS & COCKTAILS
A cocktail reception on the SPIA in D.C. rooftop featured journalists Carlos Lozada MPA ’97 and Katie Rogers, both of The New York Times, discussing their respective new books. Lozada chatted about his chronicle of essays, “The Washington Book,” while Rogers shared reflections from “American Woman,” about modern First Ladies.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES 2024 WITH GENERAL MARK MILLEY ’80
The public discussion “Global Challenges 2024” featured General Mark A. Milley ’80, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Princeton SPIA Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor. The event was moderated by CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes MPA ’99.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
SPIA in D.C. and the Center for Information Technology Policy presented the first “AI Policy Precepts,” a non-partisan program designed to explore the core concepts, opportunities, and risks underlying the technology that seems likely to influence federal policymaking for at least the next 10 years. They also co-convened bi-partisan briefings on Capitol Hill, including for expert staff from the Senate AI Caucus and its House of Representatives counterpart.
ON APRIL 3, 2024, SPIA IN NJ CO-HOSTED THE EVENT “ONE LAST NIGHT WITH DR. KING: I’VE BEEN TO THE MOUNTAINTOP” WITH UNITED BLACK AGENDA & TRINITY CHURCH OF PRINCETON.
SPIA IN NEW JERSEY
In its first full year, the SPIA in New Jersey initiative engaged in a robust series of wide-ranging activities focused on Princeton University’s home state.
PROGRAMMING
The Democracy in Action series comprised 12 panels, workshops, and talks covering democracy and government transparency, and racial and economic justice. At the PU x RU Policy Hackathon, graduate students from Princeton and Rutgers brainstormed approaches to managed retreat necessitated by sea level rise along New Jersey’s coastal and river shores. And in partnership with the Center for Research on Child and Family Wellbeing, SPIA in NJ hosted a policy briefing for state agencies and lawmakers presenting shovelready, data-driven research on policies related to family wellbeing.
SERVICE
The first cohort of Garden State Fellows was chosen; they began their service term over the summer. SPIA in NJ partnered with the PACE Center’s Service Learning Program to assemble more than 400 welcoming kits for the Elizabeth, New Jersey, chapter of the International Rescue Committee,
which distributed them to newcomers from Haiti and Cuba.
ACADEMIC
A task force of SPIA students studied the conditions that have led to New Jersey’s historically poor maternal health outcomes and explored best practices across the country. They presented strategies to improve maternal health outcomes to a panel of experts and policy makers including First Lady Tammy Murphy and the New Jersey Commissioner of Health. SPIA in NJ Faculty Fellow John J. Farmer, Jr., and Judge Jack Sabatino of the state Superior Court presented a seminar, “The New Jersey Constitution: A Case Study of a Modern State Charter in Design and in Action.”
RESEARCH
Four MPA students supported New Jersey’s Reparations Council with research, data analysis, and strategic guidance. The Council will publish their findings in 2025.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Princeton SPIA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team continued its work to ensure that the School remains a welcoming place for all.
YEARLY EVENTS
The annual Students and Alumni of Color (SAOC) Fall Retreat was themed “Unpacking Accountability & Intersectionality: Bridging Communities of Color,” while the annual SAOC Spring Symposium took up “A United Front: Organizing Across Divides.” The third annual FIRST+ Forum explored “Building Community at SPIA and Beyond.”
STAFF WORKSHOPS
The DEI team, in partnership with Human Resources, continued a multi-year DEI-Inclusive Learning Path, with workshops on digital accessibility, religious pluralism, and collaborative feedback.
DEI DINNERS
Twenty-six weekly dinners, with an average of 45 attendees each week, addressed such topics as decolonizing development aid and advancing birth equity, and celebrated Latinx Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, Passover, Ramadan, and more.
FRESH PERSPECTIVES SERIES
Screenings of “Takeover,” about access to healthcare, and “The Young Vote,” about youth activism and voting allowed students to interact with filmmakers on a pair of pressing contemporary issues.
AFFINITY GROUP EVENTS
The team hosted socials and community-building events for several affinity groups, including the SPIA Latine, LGBTQ+, AAPI (official groups) and black, Indian student groups. The MPA Mentoring program brought together 60 MPA2 mentors and 70 MPA1 mentees throughout the academic year.
OTHER
Four storytellers events gave SPIA students the chance to share their perspectives with peers. Lunch workshops examined neurodiversity in the academy, the International Trans Day of Visibility, and Native America after affirmative action.
PANELISTS TAKE QUESTIONS FROM ATTENDEES DURING THE ANNUAL SAOC SPRING SYMPOSIUM
THE PRINCETON SPIA COMMUNITY
Numerous cross-departmental initiatives helped bring the global SPIA community closer together.
Qualitative and quantitative research among School alumni, students, and faculty, as well as prospective students, led to the development of a more integrated and authentic messaging platform and visual refresh that will roll out this fall. SPIAction, a new external newsletter, was launched to share news of the School with alumni and other key constituencies.
A year after celebrating the 25th anniversary of the MPP program, SPIA began a two-year series of events marking the 75th anniversary of the MPA program. Alumni gatherings across the country and around the world gave graduates of the School many chances to reconnect.
Representatives of the Undergraduate Program Office, the DEI team, Graduate Career Development, Academic Life, and Student Life met regularly to discuss students of concern and to streamline resources to best support all students. The Undergraduate Program Office hosted Princeton’s first-ever Public Service Career Day, with alumni from the federal government, state and local government, nonprofits, and thinktanks coming to the School to discuss their career paths in public service with students. SPIA’s annual service action raised more than $17,000 for Anchor House, a Mercer County, New Jersey, nonprofit.
PASCALINE DUPAS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
FACULTY
BY THE NUMBERS
FULL-TIME FACULTY
91
FULL-TIME FACULTY
VISITING PROFESSORS, LECTURERS, PRACTITIONERS
62
Nine new full-time faculty members joined the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs for the 2023-24 academic year.
BENJAMIN BRADLOW
Assistant professor of sociology and international affairs
PASCALINE DUPAS
Professor of economics and public affairs
PETER HENDERSON
Assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and the School of Public and International Affairs
WEI PENG
Assistant professor of public and international affairs
LAURENCE RALPH
Professor of anthropology and SPIA associated faculty
KARTHIK SASTRY
Assistant professor of economics and public affairs
ERIC TATE
Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs
ZEYNEP TUFEKCI
Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs
HYE YOUNG YOU
Associate professor of politics and public affairs
18
HONORS, AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS
GARY J. BASS William P. Boswell Professor of World Politics of Peace and War Book “Judgment at Tokyo: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia” named one of the year’s 10 best books by The Washington Post, one of the 12 essential nonfiction books by The New Yorker, one of the 100 notable books by The New York Times, one of the 10 essential books of the year by The Telegraph, a New York Times Book Review editors’ choice, and a best book of the year by The Economist, Foreign Affairs, and Air Mail
BENJAMIN BRADLOW Assistant professor of sociology and international affairs
Named a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar
Named winner of a Faculty Article Award by the Sociology of Development section of the American Sociological Association
Elected council member of the Global and Transnational Sociology section of the American Sociological Association
Elected council member of the Sociology of Development section of the American Sociological Association
JANET CURRIE Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs; Co-Director, Center for Health and Wellbeing
Awarded the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for work aimed at improving learning, development, and living conditions of children and youth
Named a Distinguished Center for Economic Studies fellow
Awarded an honorary doctorate by Università della Svizzera italiana
Named winner of the Society of Labor Economists’ Jacob Mincer Award honoring lifetime contributions to the field of labor economics
FILIZ GARIP Professor of sociology and public affairs
Named winner of the A.SK Bright Mind Award by the WZB Berlin Social Science Center
NOREEN J. GOLDMAN Hughes-Rogers Professor of Demography and Public Affairs
Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
G. JOHN IKENBERRY Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs; Co-Director, Center for International Security Studies
Named a visiting fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford University
MICHAEL OPPENHEIMER Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute
Named the Woh Hup Distinguished Lecturer, National University of Singapore, and the Patten Lecturer, Indiana University
PIETRO ORTOLEVA Professor of economics and public affairs
Named a fellow of the Econometric Society
ELIZABETH LEVY PALUCK Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs; Deputy director, Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science & Public Policy
Elected to the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences as the David Riesman Fellow
MARKUS PRIOR Professor of politics and public affairs
Named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow
CECILIA ELENA ROUSE Lawrence and Shirley Katzman and Lewis and Anna Ernst Professor in the Economics of Education; Professor of economics and public affairs
Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
ELKE U. WEBER Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment; Professor of psychology and public Affairs
Named winner of the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Social Sciences
Named winner of the Newman-Proshansky Career Achievement Award by the American Psychological Association, Division 34
Awarded the Patrick Suppes Prize by the American Philosophical Society
Awarded an honorary doctorate in sustainability by Leuphana University
HYE YOUNG YOU Associate professor of politics and public affairs
Named winner of the Deil S. Wright Award by the American Political Science Association
Named winner of the Center of Effective Lawmaking’s Best Publication Award
“Judgment at Tokyo: World War II and the Making of Modern Asia”
Penguin Random House
GARY J. BASS William P. Boswell Professor of World Politics of Peace and War
“Economics in America: An Immigrant Economist Explores the Land of Inequality”
Princeton University Press
ANGUS DEATON Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of International Affairs, emeritus; Professor of economics and international affairs, emeritus; Senior scholar
“The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America”
Mariner Books
KATHRYN EDIN William Church Osborn Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs; Co-director, Center for Research on Child and Family Wellbeing; Timothy Nelson Lecturer of public affairs
“Local Content Requirements: Promises and Pitfalls”
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, co-editor
GENE M. GROSSMAN Jacob Viner Professor of International Economics; Professor of economics and international Affairs; Director, International Economics Section
“Debating Worlds: Contested Narratives of Global Modernity and World Order”
Oxford University Press, co-editor
G. JOHN IKENBERRY Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs; Co-Director, Center for International Security Studies
“SITO: An American Teenager and the City That Failed Him”
Grand Central Publishing
LAURENCE RALPH Professor of anthropology and SPIA assorted faculty
SPIA’S PUBLIC SERVICE CAREER DAY, HELD DURING THE FALL TERM.
CAREER DESTINATIONS AND INTERNSHIPS
CAREER DESTINATIONS / UNDERGRADUATES
10% FELLOWSHIP/INTERNSHIP
20% GRADUATE STUDY
2% NONPROFIT SECTOR
26% PRIVATE SECTOR
7% PUBLIC SECTOR
30% STILL SEEKING
5% UNREPORTED
CAREER DESTINATIONS / MPAS 128 128 74 74
55% DOMESTICALLY FOCUSED
5% INTERNATIONALLY FOCUSED 6% DOMESTICALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY FOCUSED 34% UNREPORTED
49% NONPROFIT SECTOR
15% PRIVATE SECTOR
27% PUBLIC SECTOR
1% GRADUATE STUDY 8% UNREPORTED
65% DOMESTICALLY FOCUSED 20% INTERNATIONALLY FOCUSED 7% DOMESTICALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY FOCUSED 8% UNREPORTED
CAREER DESTINATIONS / MPPS
45% NONPROFIT SECTOR
5% PRIVATE SECTOR
45% PUBLIC SECTOR
5% UNREPORTED
65% DOMESTICALLY FOCUSED 30% INTERNATIONALLY FOCUSED 5% UNREPORTED
LEADERSHIP THROUGH MENTORSHIP
The Leadership Through Mentorship Program brings high-profile policy leaders and practitioners to the School to share their experiences with students. Below are the visitors the School hosted through the 2023-24 academic year.
GINA ABERCROMBIE-WINSTANLEY
Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, United States Department of State
JACINDA ARDERN
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
ANDRÉ DE RUYTER
Former Group Chief Executive of Eskom Holdings
DR. REBECCA GOMPERTS
Founder and Director of Women on Waves and Women on Web
DR. ASHISH K. JHA
Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health
AMITABH KANT
G20 Sherpa to the Prime Minister of India
WILLIAM KRISTOL
Founder and Editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE PATRICK MCHENRY
R-North Carolina, 10th District
Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee
FEDERICA MOGHERINI
Rector, Rector’s Office and Director of the Academy, European Diplomatic Academy – Pilot Programme
NOA SATTATH
Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel
JSI STUDENT HUDSON OSBORNE PRESENTS AT THE PRINCETON JSI INTERNATIONAL POLICY WORKSHOP: A FOCUS ON GLOBAL THREATS
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
SCHOLARS IN THE NATION’S SERVICE INITIATIVE (SINSI)
This scholarship program fully funds graduate fellowships and undergraduate summer internships within the U.S. federal government. It’s designed to encourage, support, and prepare students to pursue careers in internationally and domestically focused federal agencies. During the 2023-24 academic year, nine Princeton students were selected to participate.
JUNIOR SUMMER INSTITUTE (JSI)
SINSI GRADUATE FELLOW
Colton Simmons
SINSI INTERNS
Thomas Emens
Uma Fox
Sejal Goud
Noah James
Desmond Lam
Cynthia Nwankwo
Ashley Olenkiewicz
Aishwarya Swamidurai
For nearly 40 years, SPIA has hosted JSI, which prepares students from diverse backgrounds for graduate study and careers in public policy. In 2024, 30 students ventured across the United States to Princeton to develop the skills that are essential for the analysis, evaluation, and development of future public policy professionals. The cohort completed classes in microeconomics, statistics, and public policy writing, and pursued a course centering on domestic or international policy. At the end of the summer program, students presented policy research on topics important to them and their future aspirations.
PROGRAMS, CENTERS, AND INITIATIVES
The School’s research centers, programs, and initiatives provide a framework for organizing and elevating our faculty’s research interests:
Afghanistan Policy Lab
Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child and Family Wellbeing
Center for Health and Wellbeing
Center for Information Technology Policy
Center for International Security Studies
Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment
Center for the Study of Democratic Politics
Education Research Section
Empirical Studies of Conflict Project
Innovations for Successful Societies
Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance
Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science and Public Policy
Law@Princeton Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination
Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance
Office of Population Research
Princeton Survey Research Center
Program on Science and Global Security
Research Program in Development Economics
Research Program in Political Economy
SPIA in D.C.
SPIA in New Jersey
FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND JACINDA ARDERN BEING INTERVIEWED BY RAZIA IQBAL. THE EVENT WAS CO-SPONSORED BY SPIA AND THE LIECHTENSTEIN INSTITUTE ON SELFDETERMINATION (LISD).
