News

For first-year Master of Global Policy Studies student Isabelle Iguchi (MGPS ’27), public service isn’t just a career path, it’s a calling. After six years in Washington, D.C., working in diplomacy, international development, and national security, she came to the LBJ School of Public Affairs ready to build on that experience. 

LBJ School of Public Affairs is an early voting location starting October 21st through November 1st, and will serve as an official voting location on Election Day, November 5th.

First-generation college student and second-year Master of Public Affairs student Julius McIntyre saw firsthand how social structures shape individual lives.

Kyrah McCowan (EMPL ’26), Director of Football Administration and Program Relations at the University of Texas at Austin, has spent her career navigating the fast-paced, competitive world of college athletics.

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin launched an exciting academic year with its annual State of the College address by Dean JR DeShazo on Thursday, Sept. 25.

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin has named Tripp Kaiser as executive director of the Center on Municipal Capital Markets (CMCM), effective January 2026.

The U.S. faces a shortage of more than 3.2 million homes, and Texas alone is short over 300,000 — gaps fueling affordability challenges across fast-growing communities. In an inaugural collaboration, the LBJ Urban Lab and Civitas Institute hosted Unlocking Housing Supply: Market-Driven Solutions for Growing Communities. Featuring Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, developers, and policy leaders, the event drew a full house and sparked an energetic discussion on practical solutions. Watch the full session on YouTube.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs released Trapped in Time: The Silent Crisis of Elderly Incarceration today, a report exposing how U.S. prisons are failing to keep up with the rising number of aging people behind bars.

The Build America Bond (BAB) program was an important part of the Obama administration’s response to the Great Recession, allowing state local governments to borrow money at reduced interest rates through federal government subsidy. While there was significant take-up of these bonds, subsequent federal budget dysfunction has reduced the subsidy level, which has cost municipal governments billions.

For recent 2025 Master of Public Affairs graduate Kaylah Glaspie, the LBJ School was more than a place to earn a degree. It was a space to explore a wide range of policy interests and prepare for a career centered on equity and community impact.

In 1975, Lady Bird Johnson and Liz Carpenter hosted the largest international women's conference in the United States at The University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs — the Women in Public Life Conference. To mark the 50th anniversary of this historic event, the LBJ Women's Campaign School will host the Women in Public Life Symposium: A Bipartisan Path Forward on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025 at the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium in the LBJ Presidential Library at UT Austin.

Five exceptional LBJ School students were awarded the NextGen Service Fellowship, giving them the opportunity to travel abroad this summer to gain hands-on experience and create meaningful change around the world.

The LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin is proud to announce the winners of its 2025 Outstanding Alumni Awards: Christopher Purdy (MPAff-DC ’15) and Corrie Stokes (MPAff ’00).

The LBJ School is launching the LBJ Business Policy Forum—a six-event series to be held throughout the 2025–26 academic year that will convene business leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists and policymakers on campus for high-impact discussions on pressing policy opportunities and challenges facing American business today.

For Valerie Ferguson (MGPS ’26), this summer was all about putting her LBJ School training into practice. From Austin, she completed a remote internship with Good Energy Collective, a policy research organization focused on nuclear energy as a solution to the climate crisis, sustainability and environmental justice.

For incoming public affairs graduate student Jayaker Kolli (MPAff ‘27), the path to the LBJ School didn’t begin in a Capitol office or campaign headquarters, but in hospital rooms across Austin. As a medical student at UT Austin’s Dell Medical School, he has cared for patients whose health outcomes were shaped less by biology and more by socioeconomic factors such as air pollution, access to insurance and safe housing.  

This summer, LBJ School global policy studies student Omar Eldaour (MGPS ‘26) is interning in Hiroshima, Japan, as a Global Expansion Graduate Intern at Volante Eyes, a startup using AI-powered technology to improve infrastructure safety. 

Annabella Ruiz (BPAff ’29) is a member of the first undergraduate class at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, marking a significant milestone for both the school and the university. Her path to this moment has been shaped by a strong sense of purpose, cultivated through years of community involvement and a growing passion for public service. 

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today hosted its 13th Muni Finance Day in partnership with the Municipal Forum of New York’s Urban Leadership Fellows (ULF) Program for New York City students interested in careers in public finance.

An incoming Master of Global Policy Studies student at the LBJ School, MacLeod is eager to begin her graduate school journey just blocks away from the Texas Capitol, a place that helped shape her path long before grad school. Last summer, she interned with the Governor’s Public Safety Office on the Child Sex Trafficking Team, an experience that reinforced her commitment to public service and ignited a deeper interest in transnational policy issues.

This summer, Emma Niewald (MGPS ’26) is putting her global policy training into action over 6,000 miles from Austin, while interning in Skopje, North Macedonia.   Through the Texas Global Embedded Scholars program in the Balkans, she is working with the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) Parliamentary Support Program (PSP), a long-standing initiative focused on enhancing the efficiency of North Macedonia’s legislature and strengthening public trust in democratic institutions.  

The LBJ School of Public Affairs is proud to welcome the newest cohort of Executive Master of Public Leadership (EMPL) students. Learn more about the unique stories, backgrounds, motivations and aspirations of some of the new students.

The LBJ School, in partnership with Polissia National University of Ukraine and the Ukraine Facility Platform, recently cohosted the international workshop A Policy Blueprint for Ukraine’s European Union Integration Workshop: Co-Creating Risk Reduction and Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Agriculture Sector.

For Noah Mata, being a part of the first undergraduate cohort at the LBJ School is more than a milestone, it’s a personal mission. A proud San Antonio native, he’s long been interested in how city government shapes communities and sees public service as the path to help his hometown thrive. 

Master of Public Affairs student Devarier “Dee” Smith (MPAff ’26) is spending his summer more than 5,000 miles away from the LBJ School in Dakar, Senegal. He is part of the inaugural LBJ Senegal Experience, a new Texas Global program that brought 14 LBJ students to Dakar for internships, language study and cross-cultural exchange.