News

The LBJ School's newest class of master's and Ph.D. students landed on the Forty Acres for orientation on Aug. 14 ready to embark on their journey to public service leadership. The fresh assembly of 149 students comes to Austin from 22 states and 15 countries. Eighty-nine women and 60 men are enrolled to begin classes on Monday, Aug. 21.

The LBJ School announced nine exceptional new faculty appointments for 2023-24. With expertise ranging from data science and law to global geopolitics and health policy, this latest cohort represents the newest boost of human capital at LBJ to explore critical questions related to national and international governance.

The intensive one-year Executive Master of Public Leadership program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs introduces its fall 2023 cohort with a week of residency in Austin starting on Aug. 23.

Pamela Foster Brady was named director of Executive Education at The LBJ School of Public Affairs in June 2023, tasked with reimaging and leading the Governor’s Center for Management Development.

The LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, with support from the new Patman Center for Civic and Political Engagement, hosted the highly anticipated 2023 Public Policy and International Affairs Program (PPIA) Public Service Weekend July 20-23, a transformative four-day conference aimed at enriching undergraduate students and recent postgraduates from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

Jacqueline Angel has been recognized for her outstanding commitment and dedication to mentoring underrepresented researchers in the field of aging.

Ji Ma, assistant professor in Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies, describes in new peer-reviewed research the topics shared between English and Chinese scholarship on nonprofits and philanthropy and explores why English scholarship is cited in Chinese journal articles from five aspects: rationale of scholarship, novelty, relevance, social network, and reputation.

In February 2023, Professors Josh Busby and Nate Jensen of The University of Texas at Austin convened leading scholars to explore the political dynamics of the clean energy transition in the United States and around the world in "Go Green Fast," an online workshop hosted by UT Austin and supported by the UT Energy Institute.

Alumnus Ian Pugh (MPAff '22) recently earned himself the lead for climate initiatives as a program analyst within The U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of The Secretary (OST). The OST oversees the formulation of national transportation policy and promotes intermodal transportation. Other responsibilities range from negotiation and implementation of international transportation agreements, assuring the fitness of U.S. airlines, enforcing airline consumer protection regulations, issuance of regulations to prevent alcohol and illegal drug misuse in transportation systems, and preparing transportation legislation.

Local banks, a diverse and young population, a significant immigrant community, and the availability of vital health care infrastructure such as elder care and child care services are the unexpected predictors of business creation in rural America, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the LBJ School.