Faculty & Staff

Welcome to two new faculty members.

Assistant Professor Boris Shor focuses on the empirical analysis of the policy consequences of enduring political institutions in the United States. He received his AB from Princeton University, and his MPhil and PhD in political science from Columbia University. In 2004-05, he was a visiting scholar in residence at Princeton University’s Center for the Study of Democratic Politics.

Assistant Professor Wes Yin researches topics on public finance, health economics, and economic development. He received his PhD in economics from Princeton University.

This year, the visiting faculty roster includes the following additions:

Kerwin Charles, an associate professor in the University of Michigan’s Economics Department and the Ford School, was named the Emmett Dedmon Visiting Professor for 2005-06. His research focuses on a range of subjects in the broad area of empirical labor economics.

Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, PhD’05 is a postdoctoral scholar in the Harris School. Her research interests include child support enforcement and the influence of child support on child and family well-being, investments in children, the influence of family structure on children, income instability, and household behavior.

The staff is growing, too. Since the last issue, we’ve welcomed Katie Claussen (Cultural Policy Center); Ian Doughty, MPP’01 (Director of Career Services); Jennifer Gage (Center for Policy Practice); Kimberly McCullough (Cultural Policy Center); Kina Smallwood, MPP’05 (Chicago School Readiness Project); Bonnie Solomon (Chicago School Readiness Project); and Maureen Stimming (Director of External Affairs).

Awards & Recognition

In May, the Public Policy Students Association named Shelley Clark and Charles Wheelan, PhD’98 the teachers of the year. PhD student Annie Dude won for best teaching assistant. Janelle George, MPP’05 won both the second-year student leader award and the community service award. Micki O’Neil, MPP’06 won the first-year student leader award.

In June, Professor Jeffrey Gogger was appointed the Irving Harris Professor in Urban Policy. Grogger joined the Harris School faculty in 2004 and his research in welfare policy, crime, education, and immigration makes him an excellent fit for the position.

Events

In September, the School hosted several events. The President of El Salvador, Elías Antonio Saca González, gave an address on his vision and policy initiatives for his country. Barbara Bodine, former Ambassador to Yemen, reflected on her career and discussed governance in the Middle East.

Newsweek and the Harris School cosponsored a panel discussion on “The President's Re-Election: Evaluating His Agenda One Year Later.” Moderated by Newsweek Senior Editor Jonathan Alter, panelists included: Harris School Professor and Deputy Dean Charles Glaser, RAND Senior Advisor and former US Ambassador to NATO Robert Hunter, Newsweek Washington Bureau Chief Dan Klaidman, and NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell.

The Office of Alumni Relations hosted several events in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and has more planned for San Francisco and other cities. For up-to-date information on alumni events, visit harrisschool.uchicago.edu/alumni.

The Center for Policy Practice (CPP) held its annual mentor dinner in October, featuring keynote speaker Susan Berresford, Ford Foundation President, who spoke about the Foundation’s initiatives and plans for helping poor and working poor families build assets and afford higher education. To read her remarks, visit harrisschool.uchicago.edu.

The CPP is hosting a three-part lecture series led by two mentors, Fran Grossman and Michael Traynor, entitled “Community Development Banking: Can You Turn Communities Around While Turning a Profit?”

This fall, the CPP resumed its popular lunch series in which members of the School’s Visiting Committee and mentors talk about their career paths and policy interests with students.

In conjunction with their 2005 academic workshop series on “Marriage and Cohabitation, Family Structure, and Child Well-Being,” the Center for Human Potential and Public Policyhosted a lecture by the Urban Institute’s Gregory Acs, which was cosponsored by Chapin Hall Center for Children.

Assistant Professor Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach has established a new academic workshop— “Public Policy & Economics.” The first session was a presentation by James Heckman, the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, on “The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior.”

The Cultural Policy Center released the report from last year’s Arts and Humanities in Public Life Conference, “The Future of Public Television.” For more information, visit culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu.

In November, the Admissions Office hosted a Pre-Application Visit Day for more than 30 prospective students.

To find more about events at the Harris School, check out our online calendar at harrisschool.uchicago.edu/calendar.

Students

In May, more than 100 policy experts, community organizers, Chicago Public Schools staff, and Harris School alumni and students attended a student-led public policy summit on Chicago school reform. “Emerging Trends in Education Reform” focused on the communityschool connection, and included a keynote address by Alex Kotlowitz, author of the lauded There Are No Children Here; a panel discussion on Chicago’s Renaissance 2010 plan; and five topical breakout sessions planned by Harris School student organizations.

A group of students organized a hurricane Katrina relief drive to collect food and other needed supplies. The drive benefited America’s Second Harvest/Greater Chicago Food Depository, part of a national network of food banks.