Spring 2009
Dear Friends,
As I complete my first academic year as dean of the Heller School, I continue to be amazed by our students. Presiding over graduation this year for the first time, I found it gratifying to watch as students from 44 countries walked (or in one case even danced) on the stage to receive their diplomas. Nobel Peace Prize winner Rajendra K. Pachauri delivered the Heller commencement address and five students representing each of our degree programs presented reflections on their time at Heller. The academic accomplishments, dedication, and passion of our students are nothing short of inspirational. Though the economic challenges seem overwhelming, the ideals and passion of Heller students leave me with nothing but hope and optimism for the future. The following is a sampling of Heller’s significant achievements over the past semester.
HELLER ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Two years ago, Heller added a two-year Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) to its existing roster of four degree programs. This year, the members of this inaugural class received their MPP degrees. Professor and MPP Program director, Michael Doonan, PhD ’02, credits the first class with creative input into helping the program grow from strength to strength. Two new joint degree programs have been approved, including an MPP/MA in Women’s and Gender Studies and an MPP/MBA. Both of these joint degrees will be offered starting in the fall of 2009.
In order to be competitive with other doctoral programs and to provide our doctoral students with a running start on dissertation research, we are now offering funding for third-year PhD students. We continue to enhance the PhD program and will offer a new concentration in global health and development policy which dovetails with our other international programs and matches a growing interest of students in health policy issues outside of the U.S. Many thanks go to Associate Dean Laurence Simon and Schneider Institutes Director Stanley Wallack for their work on responding to the demand for this new concentration.
Applications for admission to Heller’s graduate programs are up almost 15 percent. I’d like to express my appreciation to Tom Broussard, PhD ’06, assistant dean for Admissions, Recruitment and Career Services, and his team for all their hard work.
EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
Our Executive Education program, under the leadership of Professor Jon Chilingerian, is undergoing rapid expansion. Earlier this spring health leaders from the Massachusetts Medical Society attended a two-day program at Heller with sessions on such topics as health care economics and financing, strategic thinking and decision making, and conflict resolution and negotiation. As of this writing, the program is gearing up for its annual week-long Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management, as well as a shorter session tailored to nurse managers.
HELLER FACULTY AND RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS
I would like to extend my congratulations to Ricardo Godoy, winner of this year’s Heller Teaching Award, and Janet Boguslaw, winner of the Heller Mentoring Award. Heller students nominate faculty for these awards and the final decision is made by a committee consisting of faculty, students, and staff. “Brandeis Now” profiled Professor Godoy’s work in the Bolivian Amazon.
Professor Anita Hill has been appointed Chair of the Human Rights Law Committee of the International Bar Association. Professor Hill will be teaching a course at Heller this fall on “Social Justice and the Obama Administration.” Heller’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) released a report entitled “Living Longer on Less: The New Economic (In) Security of Seniors.” Director and Pokross Professor Thomas Shapiro and lead researcher Tajana Meschede of IASP convened an event timed with the release of the report, which included a panel of experts discussing the study’s sobering findings. The Boston Globe based an editorial, “Good news from the tax man,” on IASP research on the benefits of financial education and the Earned Income Tax Credit.In March, International Business School dean Bruce Magid and I presented another Brandeis Spotlight event at the Old State House about the financial crisis, entitled “Depressing but it’s no Depression.” Let’s hope we are right.
In April Marty Krauss, PhD ’81, Christine Bishop, Walter Leutz, PhD ’81, and I all made presentations at “Living Well, Living Long,” a conference sponsored by the Lifespan Initiative on Healthy Aging at Brandeis University.
This year our staff and faculty launched a new publication highlighting the important research that is conducted at the Heller School. “Heller Highlights” focuses on the publications and presentations that our faculty and researchers produce and by its sheer diversity paints a picture of ground-breaking work affecting health, child and family policy, asset-building strategies, philanthropy, aging and disabilities in one place. Heller Highlights will be published three times a year and will be posted on our web site: heller.brandeis.edu. Thanks to Constance Horgan, Associate Dean for Research and our faculty and research staff for this amazing compendium and of course for the work itself. As I write, the research staff at Heller is incredibly busy responding to important federal stimulus research opportunities and writing proposals to assure that greater knowledge is generated on critical social
HELLER EXPERTS IN THE MEDIA
Often quoted, written about, and published in the media, Heller faculty are able to communicate facts, opinions and research that affect social policy. Andrew Hahn, PhD ’78, wrote about summer employment programs for disadvantaged youth in Youth Today. Thomas Shapiro discussed economic insecurity on CBS News. Thomas McLaughlin shared his “cheat sheet” for nonprofit executives on the economic downturn in the Nonprofit Times. PBS’ News Hour, Fox Business News, and Minnesota Public Radio interviewed me to discuss the current unemployment statistics and the Boston Globe profiled me in January.
The new administration’s efforts in health care reform gave our health care policy guru, Stuart Altman, a chance to shine. Professor Altman offered his opinions and expertise in Newsweek, for “Dan Rather Reports,” and on WBUR-FM and PBS. In Health Affairs, he and the Health Industry Forum’s Robert Mechanic discussed options for decreasing health care spending.
The Boston Globe published a letter from the Sillerman Center’s Claudia Jacobs ’70 about how the paper buried the real story in an article it published on foundation responses to the economic downturn. Maria Green and Eric Olson’s Right to Water class was covered in Waltham’s Daily News Tribune, which reported on the class’s visit to a water filtration company in Milford, MA. The students hope to apply concepts from the filtration system in their work in the developing world.
HELLER EVENTS
Events at Heller continue to spotlight timely issues. We were fortunate to have Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) deliver our inaugural Distinguished Public Policy Lecture in February right about the time that the economic stimulus package was the talk of the town.
The annual Zinner Distinguished Lecture Series offered a lively debate on immigration between liberal and conservative voices on that topic, skillfully moderated by Brandeis alumnus Paul Solman ’66, correspondent for WGBH-TV.
Nonprofit, government, and foundation leaders gave their advice on “Innovating Under Pressure” at the annual Distinguished Management Lecture. Panelists included Catherine D’Amato, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Food Bank, Ron Bell, director of the Massachusetts Governor’s Office of Civic Engagement, Carol Goss, president and CEO of the Skillman Foundation, and Paul Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation.
The Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy partnered with Associated Grant Makers of Boston to feature Stuart Altman, who spoke on “Health Care Investing for Foundations: Strategies for Filling the Gaps.” Foundation board members and directors had a chance for an intimate discussion with Professor Altman as important gaps were identified that can be filled by philanthropic investments.
Heller’s Health Industry Forum and the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum featured events on “Implementing Bundled Payments for Health Care Services” (Health Industry Forum) and a focus on obesity and overweight in Massachusetts, as well as advancing health care reform (Massachusetts Health Policy Forum).
The Programs in Sustainable International Development sponsored their regular weekly speaker series, held on Fridays throughout the spring semester. Speakers included luminaries such as Clark Abt, founder of Abt Associates; Michael Delaney of Oxfam America; and Joanne Dunn of the North American Indian Center of Boston.
HELLER STUDENTS
Two competitions for prestigious summer internships took place this spring for Heller MPP students. Audrey Etlinger and Brian Schon were awarded Eli J. Segal Citizen Leadership Program internships. Ms. Etlinger will intern in the Washington, DC office of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Mr. Schon will be at Health Care for All in Boston. (The Segal Program also awards internships to Brandeis undergraduates.) Charles Francis, Malka Jampol and Sara Wall were the recipients of the Sillerman Summer Philanthropy Internships. Each internship provides a stipend of $5,000 and placements in organizations around the U.S. Mr. Francis has a placement at the EOS Foundation and Boston Rising in Boston, Ms. Jampol’s placement is with the Jewish Funders Network in New York, and Ms. Wall will intern at the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles.
Three Heller students will spend the summer working in key Massachusetts state agencies as Rappaport Public Policy Fellows. PhD students Delia Kimbrel and Sarah Fierberg Phillips, and MPP student Meaghan Smith will be working, respectively, in the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, the state’s Department of Education, and the state’s Department of Public Health.
Recent graduates Jessie Babcock, MBA ’09, and Margaret Levy, MPP ’09, have received Presidential Management Fellowships from the federal government. These rigorous two-year fellowships include formal classroom training as well as placement in a government agency.
This spring, 20 Heller students traveled to Arizona to work with the Forgotten People Community Development Corporation on the Navajo Native American Reservation as part of Heller’s Alternative Spring Break. The students worked on improving homes, installing water systems, and giving workshops in their areas of expertise to build capacity. The trip was organized by Nick Alex, MPP ’09, who was honored at graduation with the Barbara Wakefield Award. The award is given to the graduating student who has exemplified leadership in building the Heller community.
HELLER’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY GALA WEEKEND IN OCTOBER ’09
The program for our 50th anniversary gala weekend celebration on October 16-18 has been finalized. We are pleased to present keynote speakers Marian Wright Edelman, advocate for children, and Dr. Atul Gawande, endocrinologist, surgeon, and frequent contributor to the New Yorker magazine. This is in addition to a series of workshops led by faculty, alumni and others. We are delighted to have Young@Heart, the octogenarian singing group, provide our Saturday evening entertainment and tunes to dance to. If you haven’t seen the movie by the same name, be sure to rent it to prepare for the fun! For complete program details and registration information, visit heller.brandeis.edu/50. We would love to have everyone with us as we celebrate a half century of knowledge advancing social justice.
Warm regards,
Lisa M. Lynch
Dean