A Message from Dean Susan Mayer

Rigor. Relevance. Results. People value Harris School graduates, not only for their ability to answer questions better than others, but for their ability to ask the right questions in a way that yields a new vision of how to improve the world. They value our graduates not because they are well-connected, well-polished, and well-heeled, but because they are well-educated. At the Harris School, we recognize that combining rigorous analytical training with relevant application of those skills to real-world problems prepares students to ask the right questions, find the best answers, and achieve effective results. The Harris School experience does make a difference.

Students come to us from all over the world, with diverse social, political, and academic backgrounds and an extraordinary array of policy interests: child and family policy, social policy, international policy, public finance, health policy, education policy, and others. For all their diversity, each student is drawn here by the promise of learning skills that will help them make the world a better place.

When graduates leave the Harris School, they are prepared for careers as varied as their interests and backgrounds. They work in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. They work in multinational organizations and local NGOs. They work in metropolitan centers and remote rural villages. Regardless of their career path, Harris School graduates are bound by a common passion for problem-solving, a common commitment to the public good, and the shared experience of having attended one of the most exciting and challenging policy schools in the country. We give you the tools to tackle the most pressing policy issues of our day. What you do with them is up to you.

Susan E. Mayer
Dean