Alumni Spotlight: Joellen M. Austin (Master of Public Affairs ' 89)

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Published:
April 28, 2023
Joellen Austin

Tell us about your experience at the LBJ School.
I loved my time at LBJ--notwithstanding that I was driving a Honda without air conditioning! In addition to being where I found lifelong friends and my love for Tex-Mex food, it was pivotal in setting me on the path to my future career.

Tell us about your professional journey after you left the LBJ School.
Immediately following LBJ, I joined the National Institutes of Health, first as a presidential management intern, ultimately progressing to the senior executive service.

What is your current title & employer?
Deputy Director for Management, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, DHHS. 

What is one skill you learned at the LBJ School that you still use in your professional career today?
The critical thinking developed in Barbara Jordan's ethics course.

What advice would you give current students as they prepare to graduate and go out into the policy arena?
Wherever you decide to do in the world, what you learned and how you learned at LBJ will serve you and ensure you make a positive impact.

What was your most treasured memory from your time at the LBJ School?
Receiving at graduation the Emmett S. Redford Award for Outstanding Research and the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation Award for Academic Excellence.

Please list any recent accomplishments or awards you've recently received.
I was appointed to the senior executive service in 2007. I have served in three SES appointments at the National Institutes of Health. I'm retiring from my federal career in December 2022 after 33 years with NIH.

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