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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.