Dean's Column

The 2003-2004 school-year is off to a tremendous start. This year the Harris School welcomed an incoming class of 126 MPP students and seven PhD students. Students from all over the United States and from 14 different nations were welcomed at the Harris School this fall. This class brings with it a diverse set of experiences and backgrounds.

The School kicked off its orientation week with a show by The Second City that included several skits specific to Harris School experiences including Math Camp, the fast pace of the quarter system and the quantitative nature of the program. My favorite was the “mathalangua” camp song. Orientation week was followed in short order by the annual Mentor Dinner with keynote speaker David Broder (Pulitzer prize-winning reporter for The Washington Post). This year’s dinner also inaugurated the Center for Policy Practice, a new center at the Harris School intended to serve as a bridge between students’ academic training and real world policy experience.

We also hosted a lunch for alumni in Mexico City this fall with a strong turnout of nearly 20 alumni. It was wonderful to see the important work that Harris School alums are doing in Mexico – from academic posts training Mexican students for important policy jobs, to work at SEDESOL (Mexican Federal Ministry of Social Development), the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Telecommunications Commission, and private firms such as ADP/Mercer Consulting.

This year the School will be focused on raising the Harris School’s share of the $2 billion University fund-raising campaign, hiring new faculty for the School, and raising the profile of the School nationally and internationally. We are also working on increasing the number of international opportunities for Harris School students and have plans underway with universities in Mexico and France to develop on-going programs for our students.

We look forward to another busy year and to your involvement and feedback along the way.

Susan Mayer
Dean