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Pardee RAND Graduate School Findings Alumni Newsletter, Summer 2015 | Read online
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Summer 2015 |
Message from the Dean
In This Issue
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New School Year, New Courses • Third Annual Summer Faculty Workshop • Traditional Grains and the African Dinner Table • Recruiting the Next Generation • Student Publications
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New Jobs! • Alum Visits, Speaks with Students • Alumni in the News (and Journals and Blogs...) • Our Newest Alumni
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Boston Dinner with the Dean • D.C. Pardee RAND/RAND Alumni Association Event • Alumni/New Student Happy Hour
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What a great summer! No doldrums for us at Pardee RAND. We began the summer celebrating founding dean Charles Wolf's 60th anniversary at RAND. You'll learn about the full span of Charles' remarkable contributions to RAND in the article below. Closer to the beginning of their careers are our newest alumni. We'll have ten new graduates by the time the summer wraps up, passing the 350 graduates mark. We welcome Susan Burkhauser and Jessica Yeats in this issue of Findings and are in the midst of the final flurry of dissertation defenses for the 2014-15 academic year. Our students are completing research on policy problems that include homelessness, school leadership, food security, special operations training, and the power of collaboration between teacher unions and school administration. I wish each of you could join the student and faculty members who attend these defenses so that you could see the remarkable quality of the work.
One reason our students are taking on important policy problems is because of the role models they have in our alumni. Our alumni continue to be our favorite visitors to the school. And quite a few of you are getting national and international attention. Yılmaz Argüden recently addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Arthur Brooks and Samantha Ravich just released their latest books. And Jack Riley, Bruce Bennett, Jordan Fischbach, and Ruopeng An were all featured in national news publications. Congratulations!
I can't highlight all of the great stories in this issue of Findings but I will use my last sentences to draw your attention to our story on Bringing Traditional Grains Back to the African Dinner Table. I'd bet you never imagined Pardee RAND co-sponsoring a recipe and cooking contest in Uganda. Be the Answer!
Susan Marquis
Dean
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Charles Wolf Celebrates 60 Years of Service at RAND
The founding dean of Pardee RAND, Charles Wolf, Jr., is still going strong sixty years after joining RAND on June 23, 1955. As RAND president Michael Rich said in his speech:
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Charles Wolf Jr. (center) and four RAND presidents |
The length of Charles's RAND career, while distinctive, is not the main reason it's notable. Quite apart from length, Charles's time at RAND has been unusually significant, unusually memorable, and unusually varied. Consider the following:
- His personal research has produced an impressive set of intellectual contributions to several fields and many critical issues of the time.
- His 14-year leadership of the RAND Economics Department not only shaped the cadre of economists and statisticians at RAND for a generation or two, but also enriched numerous other organizations where distinguished RAND alumni went on to serve.
- What he accomplished in 27 years as the founding dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School makes him one of the intellectual founders of modern policy analysis and some of the institutions that go with it.
- And his philanthropy—the generosity of Charles and Theresa Wolf—is helping to ensure that RAND will thrive for years to come and is setting an example for all the rest of us.
Read the full speech by RAND president Michael Rich »
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Around Campus
New School Year, More New Courses and Faculty
The analytic dexterity available at RAND continues to help shape students' policy tool belt this year, with more new courses and new faculty.
Courses will be taught in multiple formats with professors and guest speakers across RAND locations. The U.S. Rebalance of Asia course will be open to all RAND staff. Full course descriptions of these new courses — and all of our courses — are available online.
Pardee RAND Hosts Third Annual Summer Faculty Workshop
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Pedro "Joe" Greer and participants of the 2015 Pardee RAND Summer Faculty Workshop in Policy Analysis |
The Pardee RAND Graduate School held its third annual Summer Faculty Workshop in Policy Research and Analysis in the Santa Monica office during the week of July 20. The school hosted 12 guest faculty members from institutions serving highly diverse student bodies for an intensive introduction to policy analysis, RAND, and Pardee RAND.
During the special keynote event on July 22, Assistant Dean Gery Ryan interviewed RAND trustee and chair of the Pardee RAND Board of Governors Pedro José ("Joe") Greer about his experience delivering medical care to underserved communities. Greer is also associate dean for community engagement at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University.
The Pardee RAND organizers thank the workshop instructors, Sandy Berry, Lionel Galway, Gery Ryan, and Jeffrey Wasserman (cohort '85), and Pardee RAND teaching assistants Jeremy Boback (cohort '13), Annie Boustead (cohort '11), Beth Katz (cohort '10), and Yemi Okunogbe (cohort '13), along with more than 30 other members of the RAND community who helped make the event a resounding success.
Alumni Sean O'Neill (cohort '06) and Ricardo Basurto-Davila (cohort '03) were also in attendance at the keynote event.
Learn more »
Bringing Traditional Grains Back to the African Dinner Table
Funding in Action: Pardee Initiative on Global Human Progress
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At the stakeholder meeting on August 18 (L-R): Pardee RAND alum Julius Gatune, Professor Deborah Cohen, Golf Course Hotel Executive Chef Robert Mulandi, student Michele Abbott, and Mary Namatovu of Saladin Media |
As part of the Pardee Initiative on Global Human Progress, RAND, Pardee RAND, and alum Julius Gatune (cohort '01) of the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) are collaborating on a project designed to explore whether it is possible to bring the traditional grains of millet and sorghum back to the Ugandan dinner table by improving their image and popularity through a nationwide recipe contest.
Improving how people perceive traditional grains is important to maintaining and increasing their demand in rapidly changing food markets largely driven by urbanization.
As the first step, a stakeholder meeting was held in Uganda in August to bring together government officials, chefs, nutritionists, media and other organizations interested in supporting this effort to raise the profile of these superfoods. RAND's role will be to design the contest and to develop pre- and post-contest surveys to assess the effectiveness of this effort. Student Michele Abbott (cohort '14) is helping to organize the project.
Learn more »
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Economist ad from 2002 |
Recruiting the Next Generation
Do you recognize the ad at right? Is that how you were first introduced to RAND? We recently came across this gem of an advertisement from the Economist in December 2002.
This year, we are offering in-person information sessions in our Santa Monica, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Boston offices, as well as two online sessions. We are also working out logistics for an information session in Mexico City. And rather than the Economist, we are using social media to spread the word.
Of course, a personal recommendation goes a long way. If you know anyone who might be interested in a Pardee RAND Ph.D., encourage them to learn more at one of our information sessions or by visiting www.prgs.edu!
Student Research: Prolific Student Publishing
Pardee RAND students have been busy collaborating on RAND reports and journal articles, as well as many blog posts. Below is a sampling of recent releases; a full list of student-authored research is available online.
All student blog posts and commentaries are available online.
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Catching Up with Alumni
New Job? Congratulations!
Matthew Hoover (cohort '09) is now a data science fellow at Insight Data Science.
David R. Johnson (cohort '08) is now assistant professor at Purdue University in the Industrial Engineering and Political Science departments.
Bryce Mason (cohort '01) is now chief investment officer at Direct Lending Investments LLC.
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Brooke Stearns Lawson talks at RAND |
Alum Visits Campus, Speaks with Students
Brooke Stearns Lawson (cohort '05), a senior conflict advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development's Africa Bureau, returned on June 4 to discuss with students how the Pardee RAND Ph.D. has influenced her life, career options, and path. She spoke about her current work focusing on transnational threats, in particular organized crime. She has more than 15 years of work experience in international development, relief, and reconstruction and co-authored The Development Response to Drug Trafficking in Africa: A Programming Guide.
Alumni News
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Yılmaz Argüden |
- Yılmaz Argüden (cohort '80) writes that he "had the pleasure to deliver [a speech] at the UN General Assembly regarding the importance of good governance for sustainable and inclusive future." He spoke to the General Assembly on the 15th anniversary of the Global Compact, in his role as chair of Global Compact Turkey. His talk was featured in Turkey's leading English-language paper, Hurriyet
- Meg Blume-Kohout (cohort '04) received her second contract award from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts to evaluate and recommend updates for survey of public participation in the arts. Her company, MBK Analytics, issued a news release about the contract and research.
Featured Alumni Research
Alumni Commentary and Perspectives
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Burkhauser |
Yeats |
Our Newest Alumni
Congratulations and welcome to the Pardee RAND Alumni Association!
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It feels good to give! |
Support Pardee RAND
As alumni, you know better than anyone the unique value of the Pardee RAND program, its students, faculty and initiatives, and the many other compelling reasons to give. Whatever your reason, please consider making your gift before the end of our fiscal year on September 28. Thank you!
Share Your News!
For more Alumni news, visit the Pardee RAND Alumni News page.
You can also use the online form to submit your updates!
RAND International Wants to Connect with You
Additionally... as you know, globalizing is a critical part of RAND's vision and strategy, and we would love to have you be a part of that. RAND International is interested in connecting with you as we develop our profile and portfolio. If you are interested in participating, to be a part of connecting RAND to policymakers in your country or region, please send a note to prgs-alumni-news@rand.org.
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Upcoming Events
September 10: Boston Dinner with the Dean
Dean Marquis will be hosting dinner for alumni in Boston on September 10 and would like to invite you to join her for dinner if you will be in town. Location is being finalized, and will be confirmed shortly.
September 16: Washington, D.C. Pardee RAND/RAND Alumni Association Event
Christine Eibner, a RAND senior economist and Pardee RAND professor, will discuss the Affordable Care Act. It will be a fascinating evening, and we hope to see you there.
September 18: Alumni/New Student Happy Hour in Santa Monica, 5 - 7 p.m.
Save the date for this upcoming event! We're looking forward to you meeting the new Pardee RAND cohort, to learn about the new students and to share your expertise and insights with them! The program will include a happy hour with food, drinks and lots of great conversations. An invitation will be sent shortly.
For information about these and other events, please contact Evelyn Fees.
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Stay Connected with the Pardee RAND Graduate School and RAND
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