SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

Letter from the Dean

Welcome to Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, the world’s most global public policy school.

SIPA embraces a vision of policy studies that crosses national boundaries. More than any of our peers, the School focuses on transnational policy areas, applying global best practices to local issues, and training leaders to engage multiple levels of governance to reach effective solutions.

The School is home to 13 transnational, issue-based centers and institutes, the newest of which are the recently launched Center for Global Economic Governance, and our BRIClab, which considers the world’s largest emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, and China).  We maintain close ties with 10 regional centers and institutes, which offer students and scholars historical depth and cultural focus for their studies.

Fifty percent of our students come from outside the United States, helping the School maintain a vibrant, international environment. Degree candidates focus on any number of issues, including global finance and economics, public health, climate change, energy, development, and sustainability — realms that demand collective action in response to increasingly global challenges.

Taking up these issues further are SIPA alumni in 156 countries, a community of more than 18,000 active leaders in the private, public, and NGO sectors.

SIPA also draws upon the convening power of New York City. This magnetic international capital of business and diplomacy, media and culture attracts people, energy, and ideas from all around the world, and a steady stream of visitors to our campus and our classrooms.

We are also fortunate to be part of one of the world’s great universities. Columbia is a resource that benefits not only those in formal joint programs — including law, business, journalism, public health, urban planning, social work, and others — but all who choose to draw upon its incredibly diverse intellectual and cultural resources. And Columbia is reimagining what it means to be a truly global university in the twenty-first century; its network of global centers in every region of the world affords students and faculty unparalleled opportunities for study, research, and service around the globe.

SIPA’s aim is straightforward, but hardly simple: to serve the global public interest by educating students to serve and lead and by producing and sharing new knowledge on the key public policy challenges facing the global community. It is a special privilege to serve this community as Dean of the School, and I welcome your interest in our ongoing, vital work.

Yours truly,

Robert C. Lieberman

Dean

School of International and Public Affairs

View SIPA’s 2011 Annual Report.