SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

Research Links Prenatal Flu Exposure to Heart Disease
In a paper co-authored by Professor Douglas Almond, research indicates that people exposed to the H1N1 strain of influenza while in utero, were at a higher risk for a heart attack later in life. The research focuses on people born just after the 1918 flu pandemic. The paper was published in the Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.

Read more about Professor Almond’s research from Time magazine. [2009]

SIPA Alumnus Named Rising Hedge Fund Star
Joshua Levine (MIA '00, IF '99) was named one of Institutional Investor News' 2009 Rising Stars of Hedge Funds. Levine is a Senior Vice President with Permal Group Inc. The awards program "recognizes up-and-coming professionals from across the hedge fund community who have achieved a demonstrable level of success in their careers to-date, have shown a commitment to continued growth and contributions to the industry, and are poised to evolve into leaders in their fields." More [2009]

John Kluge’s Gift Will Establish the “SIPA Challenge”
John Kluge (CC '37), has agreed to allow Columbia University to designate $30 million of his $400 million bequest intention to build the financial aid endowment at SIPA. The school will use $25 million of Mr. Kluge's gift to establish the “SIPA Challenge” program. All future gifts of $100,000 or more for financial aid endowment at SIPA will be matched 1:1. The remaining $5 million of Mr. Kluge's gift will be used to create Kluge fellowships. More [2009]

Dean Coatsworth Recognizes "Top Five" 2008-2009 Faculty with Teaching Awards
SIPA recognizes excellence in teaching through two annual awards: the Distinguished Teaching Award and, in a new award established this fall, the Top Five teachers from each semester the previous year. The awards are based on rankings on two questions in the quantitative portion of the SIPA course evaluation, students’ overall evaluation of the course and their overall evaluation of the instructor. The responses are totaled and ranked, and the Top Five” teachers each semester receive the award. More [2009]

Ester Fuchs Reappointed to FDIC Committee
Professor Ester Fuchs, director of SIPA’s Urban and Social Policy Concentration, was reappointed to the FDIC's Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion (ComE-IN). The committee provides the FDIC with advice and recommendations on expanding access to banking services by under-served populations. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said Professor Fuchs' "...insight and participation as a representative of the academic community has been invaluable.” [2009]

Lessons Learned: Alumna Teaches “Skills for Kids”
While still a student at SIPA, Prathima Rodrigues (MIA ’06) founded Skills for Kids, an initiative that teaches children in Mongolia, India and Kosovo about entrepreneurship. She says SIPA taught her “…to work with and through others to create more impact than you can achieve on your own.” More [2009]

 

 

Merriam Award for Scholarship and Public Service
Professor Michael Doyle is the 2009 recipient of the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) Charles E. Merriam Award. Professor Kenneth Prewitt received the award in 2005. The recognition of two senior members of SIPA's faculty within the last five years demonstrates the School's commitment to research and teaching that combines the best of scholarship and public service. More [2009]

Lindenmayer to Direct UN Studies Program
Professor Elisabeth Lindenmayer has been appointed to a three-year term as director of SIPA’s United Nations Studies Program after a successful term as the acting director. Lindenmayer is an adjunct professor, teaching courses on peacekeeping and the UN Security Council. The UN Studies Program promotes teaching, training, and career development in the pursuit of multilateral solutions to global dilemmas. Lindenmayer previously served as an advisor to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. More [2009]

Alumna to Serve in Peacekeeping Role at the UN
Judy Cheng-Hopkins (MIA ’78) has been appointed as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support. Cheng-Hopkins previously served as Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees in charge of operations in more than 118 countries. The Peacebuilding Support Office helps nations coming out of conflict achieve sustainable peace. More [2009]

Voting in Afghanistan
Professor Austin Long, who recently returned from conducting research in Afghanistan, says U.S. troops will supplement existing NATO-led security forces and Afghan authorities in securing elections. “This combined force is probably sufficient for securing most major population centers, like Kabul and Kandahar City, as well as the actual polling stations. However, it may not be enough to prevent intimidation in some villages away from the polling stations.” More [2009]

“Energy Smart Cities” in China
As China faces unprecedented growth and urbanization, the Chinese government is working to develop ambitious energy and emissions-reductions goals. To help achieve these goals, SIPA’s Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Policy (CEMTPP) has been working with the Joint U.S.-China Cooperation on Clean Energy organization to train mayors across China on energy efficiency policies. Read an interview with Steve Hammer, director of CEMTPP’s Urban Energy Program. More [2009]

Training a Competitive Urban Workforce
SIPA’s Urban Policy concentration participated in the NYC Global Partners summit, “Job Creation and Workforce Development,” held at Columbia University. Presentations focused on successful policies and initiatives to train a competitive urban workforce, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered the keynote address. Watch videos from the summit here.

Professor Ester Fuchs, director of SIPA’s Urban Policy concentration, authored the case study Innovations in City Government: The Case of New York City’s Workforce Development System. [2009]

“Lessons from Systemic Financial Crises”
Professor Guillermo Calvo, director of SIPA's Program in Economic Policy Management, delivered the keynote address at the Sixth Annual India Policy Forum, organized by the National Council of Applied Economic Research and the Brookings Institution. More

During the forum, Professor Calvo spoke with India’s Financial Express and Business Standard. [2009]

Capstone Workshop Develops “Property Saved Indicator” for FDNY
SIPA’s Capstone Workshops allow students to apply practical skills and analytical knowledge to a real-world issue. In a workshop conducted for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), the student team developed an indicator of property “saved,” as opposed to property “lost;” the first of its kind in the country. The team estimates the FDNY saves around $3.1 billion of property annually. More [2009]

Professor Merit Janow Joins China Investment Corporation Advisory Board
Merit Janow, professor of international trade, has been appointed to the international advisory board of the China Investment Corporation, the country's $200 billion sovereign-wealth fund. The newly established board has 14 members, and comprises economists, investors and former government officials from the United States, Europe and Asia. More [2009]

Swati Desai Joins SIPA from NYC
Swati Desai has been appointed as Associate Professor of Practice and will teach management. Desai served in a variety of positions with the City of New York’s Human Resources Administration, most recently as Executive Deputy Commissioner of Evaluation and Research. She has previously taught at Fordham University, New York University and Long Island University; and her research interests include management analysis, performance management, and health and labor economics. [2009]

Workshop in Development Practice: Endeavor
A student team from SIPA's Workshop in Development Practice learned more about entrepreneurship and video production, while producing a video for Endeavor. Endeavor is an organization that works to transform the economies of emerging markets by supporting high-impact entrepreneurs. SIPA workshops allow students to apply practical skills and analytical knowledge to a real-world issue. More [2009]

Studying Emerging Markets: "Because Someone Needs It"
During 2008 – 2009, more than three dozen SIPA students completed projects under faculty supervision for the U.S. Treasury Department, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. They completed the projects for academic credit, but also in the words of one student, “because someone needs it.” This kind of hands-on learning experience is a central part of a SIPA education. More [2009]

2009 Distinguished Teaching Awards
Andrea Bubula and Geoffrey Jehle each received SIPA’s Distinguished Teaching Award for 2009. The awards are offered in two categories – Professor Bubula won for courses with enrollment of 45 students or more; Professor Jehle for courses with fewer than 45 students. Each was selected by students through an online ballot that featured ten nominees in each category. The nominees were the top performers in the quantitative portion of course evaluations for the spring and fall 2008 semesters. More [2009]

Croatian Prime Minister to Address “Southeast Europe’s Future”
Dr. Ivo Sanader, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, will deliver an address entitled “Southeast Europe’s Future: A Perspective from a New NATO Ally.” The address will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, in Room 1501 of Columbia’s International Affairs Building, 420 West 118th Street. Dr. Sanader’s address is presented by the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), the Harriman Institute, the European Institute and the East Central European Center. More [2009]

Understanding the Roles of the Global Environmental and International Security
SIPA's Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR) and the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea announce the establishment of the Fund for Global Environment and Conflict Resolution. Through the Fund, the Center for International Conflict Resolution will promote research conducted by prominent scholars at Columbia University, in Italy and around the world, as it pertains to issues of global environment and conflict resolution. The Fund will provide support for research, teaching and fellowships over a period of three years. More [2009]

Congratulations to the Class of 2009!
On May 18, SIPA awarded 737 students a Master of International Affairs or a Master of Public Administration. SIPA also recognized 13 graduating students for their achievements. More [2009]

SIPA Launches Global Fellows Program
Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) has launched a new Global Fellows Program. The new program will bring to campus each year a distinguished group of global leaders, each of whom has played a significant role in designing, shaping, or implementing solutions to critical global problems. The first cohort of SIPA Global Fellows will include Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Former Chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer, and Tung Chee Hwa, Former and first Chief Executive of Hong Kong. More [2009]

Harvey Picker Prize for Public Service
Jakob Lund (MIA '09) and Brandon Woods (MIA "09) have been awarded SIPA’s 2009 Harvey Picker Prize for Public Service. The Harvey Picker Prize recognizes graduating students who demonstrate exceptional commitment to public service. Lund founded Play31, an organization that provides footballs and other sporting goods equipment to children in post-conflict zones. Woods served as a volunteer with The Liberty Partnerships Program at Barnard College, spearheading an enrichment program for youth in New York. More [2009]

SIPA Alumnus Appointed Israeli Ambassador to the United States
Michael Oren (MIA ’78) has been appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to become Israel’s next ambassador to the United States. Oren completed a BA at Columbia College, an MIA at SIPA, and was an International Fellow. He has taught at Georgetown, Harvard and Yale, and is known for advocating that Israel unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank. More [2009]

Michael Doyle Elected to the American Philosophical Society
Professor Michael Doyle has been elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society, the nation's oldest learned society. Professor Doyle is the Harold Brown Professor of U.S. Foreign and Security Policy, specializing in international relations theory, international security and international organizations. He previously served as assistant secretary-general and special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743, the American Philosophical Society promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. Members are nominated and elected by their peers in the Society, which includes scholars from a wide variety of disciplines. Other Columbia faculty or administrators holding membership in the American Philosophical Society include Jagdish Bhagwati, Joseph Stiglitz, and University President Lee Bollinger. [2009]

Tackling a Real World Challenge: SIPA's Public Policy Case Competition
What will it take to turn around an inefficient and beleaguered state medical claims processing system? That was the problem addressed by the fifteen policy students who competed in SIPA’s Public Policy Case Competition on April 10, 2009. The winning team of Garrett Wright (MIA ’10), Chelsea Gorr (MIA ’10) and Aurora Cardenas (MPA ’09) crafted a solution and took top honors in the contest. More [2009]

SIPA Resources: The Global Financial Crisis and the G-20
Here are a variety of resources available from SIPA and Columbia University on the global financial crisis and the 2009 meeting of the G-20 in London. Among the resources are videos of two panel discussions hosted by Merit Janow, Professor of International Trade and Director of SIPA’s international economic policy concentration. The panels included experts from the Columbia University community and the private and public sectors. More [2009]

Workshop Team Wins Award for Brazilian Mining Project
A student team from SIPA’s Workshop in Development Practice received this year’s Leous Parry Award for Progressive Sustainability for its work on promoting social dialogue on the impacts of mining company operations in Pará, Brazil. The award was created by two SIPA alumni, J.P. Leous and Neal Parry, to support interdisciplinary approaches to protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development. More [2009]

Prospects for Engagement with Russia
Professor Stephen Sestanovich, an expert in Russian and Eastern European studies and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, testified March 19, 2009 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the “Prospects for Engagement with Russia.” Professor Sestanovich testified that “The worsening of Russian-American relations has involved real clashes of policy and perspective – and active involvement by policymakers on both sides.” [2009]

Read Professor Sestanovich’s testimony here.

Watch a video of the hearing here. (Flash Player)

Christophe Jaffrelot to Join SIPA as Visiting Professor
Christophe Jaffrelot, director of CERI at SIPA's partner SciencesPo in Paris, France's foremost center for research on the international political system, will join SIPA in the fall of 2009 as the Alliance Visiting Professor in International and Public Affairs. Professor Jaffrelot holds degrees from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, the University of Paris I-Sorbonne and the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales. More [2009]

Capstone Workshop: Protecting Life and Property with the FDNY
Capstone workshops serve as the culminating educational experience for students, allowing them to apply the practical skills and analytical knowledge learned at SIPA to a real-world issue. Students are organized into small consulting teams and assigned a substantive, policy-oriented project with an external client.

One team is working with the Fire Department of New York to explore best practices in the collection of information on property loss and properties protected. The workshop team will make recommendations to enable the FDNY to implement a property preservation indicator in 2009. More [2009]

SIPA to Become Autonomous Professional School Within Arts and Sciences
Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) will become an autonomous professional school on July 1, 2009. “SIPA will maintain close ties to the Arts and Sciences, but will have the financial and academic independence to develop in new and exciting ways,” said SIPA Dean John Coatsworth. More [2009]

CICR and Consensus Host Leadership Workshops
As the world navigates these turbulent economic times, leadership and communication skills are in ever-greater demand. But as Vince Lombardi said, “Leaders aren’t born. They are made.” To help build a roster of leaders for the future, Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR) and Consensus, a negotiation and conflict resolution consulting firm, are partnering to offer a series of executive workshops. Participants will have the opportunity to hone their leadership and negotiation skills through intensive two-day sessions conducted at Columbia University.