January 16, 2013
Jack H. Knott, dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, called his recent trip to Asia "one of the most exciting I've ever undertaken." Between Nov. 19 and Dec. 4, he visited China, India and Hong Kong to advance the school's mission of shaping -- and being shaped by -- the world. "These are very important countries to Los Angeles, to USC and to the Price School," he said. "I was really impressed by the range of people that we were able to meet and the relationships that we solidified, as well as initiated."
Jack H. Knott, dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, called his recent trip to Asia "one of the most exciting I've ever undertaken." Between Nov. 19 and Dec. 4, he visited China, India and Hong Kong to advance the school's mission of shaping -- and being shaped by -- the world. "These are very important countries to Los Angeles, to USC and to the Price School," he said. "I was really impressed by the range of people that we were able to meet and the relationships that we solidified, as well as initiated."
Jack H. Knott, dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, will serve as president of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), the organization announced on Nov. 28. NASPAA is an international membership organization of graduate programs in public administration, public policy, and public affairs and is the recognized accreditor of master's programs in public affairs.
The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC, a university research center housed in the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, and El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), a government-funded social science research institution in Tijuana, collaborated on a project aimed at tracking migration across the U.S.-Mexico border on a comprehensive and timely basis. The 
USC President C. L. Max Nikias and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hosted the official launching of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy on Sept. 24 with a daylong symposium that brought together prominent leaders in government and entertainment. The event drew nearly 1,000 attendees to USC, along with approximately 30 national and international news media outlets. The Schwarzenegger Institute is housed at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Over the summer, dozens of students from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy went the extra mile through internships and international lab experiences across the globe. Price students took part in
International labs in Brazil and China; worked with key organizations like the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning and Design, Hong Kong-America Center, Shanghai Center for Sustainability; and interned at the U.S. State Department in Armenia.
A contingent of professors, researchers and alumni from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy visited Sao Paulo in August to participate in a two-day workshop on metropolitan development. The group from USC Price shared experiences and research regarding land use, transportation planning, housing, economic development and infrastructure with local academics and officials from the state government. The workshop was an outgrowth of Dean Jack H. Knott's visit to Brazil in December, when he met with Edson Aparecido, secretary of metropolitan development for the State of San Paulo.
At a time when regulation of health care is increasingly complex and providing health services is increasingly expensive, how can global health be maintained or improved? That was the overriding question at the two-day Global Health Care Regulation and Innovation Conference, held in Beijing. It was jointly hosted by USC's Schaeffer Center and Peking University, with the support of Quintiles. Several faculty from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy participated including Dana Goldman, Darius Lakdawalla and Mike Nichol.
Complacency poses the greatest threat to the United States a decade after 9/11, former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Frances Townsend said during a recent lecture that was part of the Distinguished Speaker Series presented by USC's National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE). The center is based at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Viterbi School of Engineering.
Past presidents of the Korean Social Science Research Council include some of South Korea's highest-ranking officials -- among them, a former chairperson of the civil service commission, a former deputy prime minister of education and human resources development, and even the country's former prime minister. Now, a USC alumnus holds the position. Yong-duck Jung, who received his PhD in public administration from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy in 1981, took over as president of the research council in January.
Laurie Nijaki, 26, earned her Ph.D. in policy, planning and development from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy in May. But already, she's made significant contributions in the field of sustainability -- and has plans to do more. This September, Nijaki will begin a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan's Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, widely considered the most prestigious postdoctoral opportunity in sustainability in the United States.
From social media in Africa to "fracking" in California, the 2012 Policy Analysis Practicum challenged MPP students from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy to grapple with the most pressing issues of the day. During the practicum, small groups of MPP students worked together to put theory into practice, serving as consultants for high-profile clients and performing in-depth policy analyses of real-world issues. This year, clients included the Congressional Research Service, the RAND Corp., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, among many others.
Three members of the USC Price School of Public Policy's class of 2012 will put theory into practice in new positions at departments within the federal government. Raabia Budhwani MPA/MPL '12, Steven Shepherd MPL '12, and Robert Trombley MPP '12 have accepted high-level positions through the Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF) program designed to groom future government leaders and administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Shepherd will serve as a housing program policy specialist the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trombley accepted an offer as a budget policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Education. And, Budhwani will work as a foreign affairs officer at the Department of State.
USC Price alumnae Jingjie "Ginger" Li MPA '11 and Wenting Wu MPA '11 have a lot in common. "Here we have two young ladies from Shanghai who did not know each other there but were both admitted to the Master of Public Administration program at the USC Price School of Public Policy. Now they are both working for USC with important jobs helping to foster the university's global agenda," said Professor Eric Heikkila. Li has been working full-time for the USC Price Office of International Initiatives since July 2011. In May, Wu became the new associate director of the USC Shanghai Office.
Faculty at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy hosted a delegation from the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG) between May 29 and June 1 to share their research on how to develop technically feasible, politically viable and cost-effective climate strategies. The event was coordinated by USC Price Assistant Research Professor Dan Wei and USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose in conjunction with the Center for Climate Strategies. CAG is a training center for people in public service who are in mid- and high-level civil service positions at the national, provincial, and municipal levels in China.
With more than half of the world's population now living in cities, the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy believed it was time to address the challenges of urbanization. To that end, USC Price dean Jack H. Knott moderated the discussion "Cities of the Future: Community, Creativity, Culture and Technology" on April 23. The panel featured Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles County supervisor; Hilda Blanco, USC Price research professor and interim director of the Center for Sustainable Cities; Hsi-Wei Chou, former governor of Taipei County, Taiwan; and Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, USC Price associate professor.
As a counterterrorism expert and senior adviser to the president at RAND Corp., Brian Michael Jenkins can separate fact from fiction better than most when it comes to homeland security. His expertise was demonstrated on April 26 for the USC CREATE Homeland Security Center's Distinguished Speakers Series held at the USC Sol Price School of Policy. The talk was titled "The Long Campaign: What Have We Learned about War and Ourselves since 9/11."
A dirty bomb attack on downtown Los Angeles' financial district could impact severely the region's economy to the tune of nearly $16 billion, fueled primarily by psychological effects that could persist for a decade, according to a study by USC researchers and others. The study monetized the effects of fear and risk perception, incorporating them into a state-of-the-art macroeconomic model. "Terrorism can have a much larger impact than first believed," said study co-author Adam Rose, research professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Rapid urbanization has created a need for sustainable funding and financial strategy for infrastructure renewal in China, said Richard Little, a senior fellow at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a seminar offered on March 7 by USC Price and the METRANS Transportation Center. In 1980, China's population was just 20 percent urbanized. Today, that number has reached about 50 percent. To support this unprecedented growth, the country has invested enormous sums to provide transportation, power, communications, sanitation and other basic infrastructure.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy advanced its work of "shaping the world" during Dean Jack H. Knott's recent trip to Israel. Knott traveled in the company of USC leaders, including President C. L. Max Nikias. During the trip, Knott forged relationships with policymakers, as well as representatives from top educational institutions, to create new opportunities for collaboration. He signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel's first private college.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was among several USC schools and programs that ascended in the latest national rankings released by U.S. News & World Report . The Price School climbed to sixth place (from seventh in 2008) in the newest edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" for public affairs.
Nuclear power produces about 20 percent of the electricity in the United States, and it's an increasingly important part of the overall energy supply mix. Still, the 2012 presidential candidates aren't likely to mention it during their campaigns, according to Detlof von Winterfeldt, professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, who recently completed a three-year appointment as director of Austria's International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, which explores issues of nuclear power.
During the fall, USC students who signed up for the course, "The Nonprofit Sector and the Public Interest," found themselves with $10,000 and a tough assignment. They had to give the money away to up to five deserving Los Angeles-based nonprofits. As part of the course, offered through the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, professor Richard Sundeen asked each student to choose a nonprofit to research. At the end of the semester, they presented their findings to the class as persuasive pitches asking for $2,000 to $10,000 gifts to meet specific needs of the organizations.
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development brought its international expertise to the table at the 2011 USC Global Conference, held Oct. 13-15 in Hong Kong. SPPD faculty joined business experts to discuss issues of worldwide significance at the three-day event. "Most of the issues we deal with -- from health care to urban development to the environment -- don't occur just in the United States but around the world," said SPPD Jack Knott. "We incorporate that global perspective as an integral fabric into everything we do at the school."
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) has a mission to "shape the world," and more than 60 students spent their summers putting these words into action in Brazil, China, Bolivia and Australia.
Osama bin Laden is dead, but the former al Qaeda leader's strategy for defeating the United States survives and - contrary to popular belief - continues to be effective, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross warned. He is the fourth expert to be featured by the Distinguished Speaker Series offered by the USC CREATE Homeland Security Center, jointly housed at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
From the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina to this year's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the last decade has shown that disasters -- whether natural or man-made -- are inevitable and that the next one is coming soon. USC hosted the second annual International Society for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) conference, "Reframing Disasters and Reflecting on Risk Governance Deficits," which was co-sponsored by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and CREATE Homeland Security Center.
How can an online game educate Californians about carbon emissions? What's the best way for the California government to prepare for the baby boomer retirement? Can private canine companies provide an effective and reasonably priced screening method to enhance airline security? These are a few of the real-world issues that USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development MPP students tackled during the 2011 Policy Analysis Practicum.
Clara Suh, a cheerful and driven undergraduate student at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, brought home many valuable lessons - both professional and personal - from her internship in Asia. Suh, a senior graduating in May with a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy, Management, and Planning and a minor in German, spent the summer after her sophomore year working in Hong Kong as part of the USC Global Fellows Internship Program.
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development signed a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean government to provide graduate education and training for selected officials from Korea's Ministry of Public Administration and Security.