McCourt Alum Helps Restore Voting Rights to People with Past Criminal Convictions in Florida For decades, civil rights advocates have been fighting to ensure that all Americans can exercise their right to vote. There are many different types of systemic barriers that inhibit people from voting, many of which date…
The Issue: The 2020 Census is rapidly approaching. Much attention has focused on whether including a citizenship question will impact the accuracy of the count. But other factors – ranging from technical issues, to funding, to the ability to hire the number of census workers required – also present…
Six Hoyas went behind-the-scenes at the 2020 Iowa Caucus On January 31, six Georgetown students flew to Iowa to experience the first-in-the-nation presidential caucus. The student trip, organized by McCourt’s Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics), gave students a chance to hear directly from candidates and their surrogates…
In advance of the SOTU, McCourt experts share policy insights and updates. On Tuesday, President Trump will deliver the State of the Union amidst a backdrop of an impeachment trial and an election year. The address generally touches on a number of policy topics, many of which have been circulating…
Health Policy Expert Judy Feder Advances Policy Efforts to Address the Financial Challenges of Long-Term Care For most catastrophic or unpredictable events, some type of insurance, whether public or private, helps most Americans manage the circumstance without overwhelming them financially. However, that is not the case for long-term…
Alumni from McCourt Center’s Certificate Program Expand Advocacy Efforts at DC Nonprofit As a licensed social worker, Adam Rocap knew he wanted to work in a space that created positive social change. When Cheryl Bell left the private sector, she was looking for something that combined her interests and…
January 20, 2020
Discovery & Impact, Student Experience, University News
The city’s housing inspection process will be improved, thanks to a group of McCourt School of Public Policy students who designed new algorithms for the city’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA). DCRA randomly selects housing units for inspection from a list of units not inspected in the past…
For many students, the biggest barrier to voting is often registering to vote. GU Votes is working to change that. GU Votes, part of the McCourt School’s Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics), has a clear goal to make voting easy and accessible for students. Since its…
The McCourt School of Public Policy has had a stellar year and grew in a variety of transformational ways in 2019, deepening its ongoing commitments to impact, innovation, inclusivity, and infrastructure.
McCourt Students’ Help DC Residents “Breathe Easy” In DC, asthma rates are among some of the highest in the nation. After learning this, two McCourt School students created an effort called “Breathe Easy” that helps community health workers facilitate home visits, identify environmental triggers that can exacerbate asthma symptoms, and…
Georgetown students got the chance to pose questions to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at an event today at Georgetown. Georgetown students got the chance to pose questions to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at an event today at Georgetown. The event, sponsored by Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy and its…
This year, three economists were awarded a Nobel Prize for their rigorously analytical approach to international development – an approach that is also at the heart of the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Master in International Development Policy (MIDP) program.
In a 2017 YouGov poll, public opinion in the UK rated weather forecasters as more trusted than economists. In the US, a survey asking a similar question also showed a lack of trust in economists explained Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo to an engaged audience of Georgetown students, faculty, and staff.
The McCourt School of Public Policy is excited to announce that six students and alumni were selected as Presidential Management Fellows for the class of 2020.
Gordon Berlin, the former President of MDRC, and a leading innovator in the field of public problem solving, will join the McCourt School on January 1, 2020, as a research professor.
LabGov Georgetown researches innovative ways to help people who live in cities enjoy and utilize shared living spaces and resources. Learn how the Harlem E-Project is working with community members to improve access to high-quality digital resources in Harlem neighborhoods.
For more than 15 years, the McCourt School’s National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health has been helping Washington, DC’s pediatric medical providers better serve some of the city’s most at-risk residents—children of low-income families.
FutureEd, an education think tank at the McCourt School, and the Georgetown University D.C. Public Policy Initiative hosted a policy forum Nov. 18 about the common lottery system that allows Washington, D.C. students to choose among charters and traditional public schools through a single, online application.
With its Crossover Youth Practice Model, the McCourt School's Center for Juvenile Justice Reform is working to improve outcomes for young people who find themselves moving back and forth between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
Anyone who voted in the District of Columbia last year might have seen one of the volunteers for a new project, Observe D.C. The first-ever sample-based election observation project in the United States, Observe D.C. was the brainchild of Ben Mindes (MPP’19), a recent McCourt graduate.
For the first time in Georgetown history, students will have the opportunity to register to vote – almost exactly a year before the 2020 presidential election – at the same time they register for classes.
Sergeant Howard Singer (MPM'17), the communications advisor to the First Deputy Police Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, is leading a new initiative to establish and expand educational and leadership opportunities for all NYPD ranks and civilian titles.
Today the Georgetown Center for Children and Families released their ninth annual report on children's health coverage and launched a new interactive data hub.
Barbara Schone is Teaching Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the McCourt School of Public Policy. She also serves as the Faculty Director of the Master of Public Policy (MPP) program. Barbara Schone is Teaching Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the McCourt School of Public…
December 2018 marked a significant moment in U.S. criminal justice reform when the First Step Act was signed into law. The bill aims to ease the effects of hard-on-crime policies that for decades led to high incarceration rates, typically among African-American men. The legislation will hopefully make it easier for…
Since graduating from the McCourt School of Public Policy, Alex Engler, MPP ’13, has made it his mission to improve policy and governance through the use of data science.
As eviction gains national attention, McCourt assistant professor Eva Rosen’s research is shedding light on the little-known landscape of eviction in Washington, D.C., and the consequences for those caught in the process.
Foster, who has a joint appointment in the McCourt School of Public Policy and the Georgetown Law Center, is an expert in the areas of property, land use, environmental justice and local government law.
Political and social unrest has forced millions of Venezuelans to flee their country, often by traveling through Colombia to Ecuador. Many are stuck at the border because they have no money, no visa and no way to reach out for help. Using the tools she learned at McCourt and a…
Kids and teens are quietly losing their health insurance at unprecedented rates across America. Sounding the alarm: McCourt’s Center for Children and Families, with recent headline-grabbing reports that reveal disturbing declines at the state and national level.
Brittany Heyd (JD/MPP ‘13) was on the fast track for a high-powered law firm job when the lure of the startup world pulled her in another direction. For the past two years, Heyd has run Mana Up, a startup that fosters economic development in Hawaii by promoting local products and…
Nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared from the United States and Canada since 1970, according to a study published today in Science, co-authored by Georgetown Environment Initiative (GEI) director Peter Marra.
More than 10 of the candidates running for U.S. president participated in a conversation with young voters on the issues surrounding climate change during a two-day forum at Georgetown.
Surprise medical bills result in financial hardship for millions of Americans and top the list of health care costs that Americans are afraid they will not be able to afford. McCourt's Center on Health Insurance Reforms has launched a new project to provide unbiased and comprehensive information on the issue…
When it comes to development funding, would populations in need be better off if aid practitioners simply got out of the way and distributed aid in cash rather than in complex and bundled programs? McCourt Assistant Professor Andrew Zeitlin designed a study to compare the effects of the two approaches.
Seeing an opportunity to help D.C. taxpayers, Peter Nouhan (MPP ’19) founded a program to train Washington, D.C., high school students to facilitate free tax preparation for low- and middle-income workers, many of whom miss out on thousands of dollars in unclaimed tax credits every year.
Adriana Kugler, professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy. In this role, Kugler will contribute her wide-ranging expertise in economic and labor policy to further economic prosperity…
The McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University is pleased to welcome organizational and information systems expert William B. Rouse to our faculty as a research professor.
The McCourt School of Public Policy is pleased to welcome economist Keith Hall, outgoing director of the Congressional Budget Office, as a professor of the practice. Hall will begin his tenure in July, 2019.
The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University today jointly released updated lifetime Bipartisan Index rankings of U.S. Senators who have served since 1993. The non-partisan tool measures the degree to which Senators work across party lines.
A growing body of research shows that strong relationships with teachers & other adults are critical to academic success, especially for at-risk students. A new report from McCourt's FutureEd research center details efforts to improve teacher mindsets.
Eva Rosen, an Assistant Professor at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, is using her MDI Seed Grant to further her research in poverty and American housing policy.
Leaders of Georgetown’s recently-announced Initiative on Technology and Society host prominent international research, policy and practice thought-leaders on the subject of the digital divide.
The McCourt School of Public Policy congratulates the Center for Children and Families (CCF) Senior Fellow Tricia Brooks on her appointment to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC).
The McCourt School is thrilled to support our students through the Fund for Student Excellence, which provides financial assistance to students who are advancing their careers with substantive and meaningful internships that are unpaid.
The McCourt School of Public Policy mourns the loss of Alice M. Rivlin, a visiting professor at the McCourt and our predecessor the Georgetown Public Policy Institute from 2003 to 2016.
Last month, the Massive Data Institute (MDI) organized a two-part panel discussion on “Data Blending: Tackling the Obstacles” in the Bioethics Research Library.
The McCourt School of Public Policy mourns the loss of former Senator Richard Lugar, who died peacefully on April 28, 2019. Lugar served as Mayor of Indianapolis from 1968 to 1975, and six terms as a U.S. Senator from Indiana, making him the longest serving senator in Indiana history.
A study by two Georgetown professors and a World Bank senior economist shows that residents of rural Bihar, India, prefer public health services and infrastructure improvements to direct cash transfers.
This past month, the Massive Data Institute (MDI) collaborated with the School of Foreign Service (SFS) to organize a two-day workshop on Satellite Imagery and GIS software.
Peter Marra, a leading environment and conservation expert, has been named director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative, the Laudato Si’ Chair in Biology and the Environment and professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy.
The McCourt School was proud to serve as a host site for the 2019 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition. This year’s competition—a partnership between the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA)—was called Host Nations:…
The Latin American Policy Association (LAPA) at McCourt seeks to disseminate knowledge and awareness about Latin American issues and policies among the Georgetown community, in addition to advancing the interests of Latin American students in the McCourt School and in the larger D.C. community.
The 5th annual Georgetown Public Policy Challenge tasked graduate students with developing innovative policy solutions to address local or regional issues in the Washington, D.C. area.
The Lugar Center and the McCourt School today jointly released their new Bipartisan Index rankings of members of Congress, completing the picture of the 115th Congress (2017-2018). The non-partisan tool measures the degree to which Senators and Representatives work across party lines.
Georgetown’s leadership in the emerging field of public interest technology and prime location in Washington, DC, has led it to co-found a network that will boost the field through scholarship, new courses, research collaborations and more.
Georgetown has once again been classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an institution with “very high research activity.” A large set of research centers of the McCourt School of Public Policy informs the nation about significant policy issues.
Georgetown’s Justin Thaler, an assistant professor in the department of computer science, has dedicated his latest research to develop new, more efficient ZKPs using his MDI Seed Grant funding awarded in 2017.
A $20 million gift from Patricia and Jon M. Baker will enable Georgetown University to develop a new paradigm of learning that engages, adapts, and responds to the complex needs of the 21st century.
Georgetown mourns the passing of former Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Michigan), the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history and a devoted Georgetown alumnus.
On February 23, McCourt will host graduate students from a cohort of 137 universities to participate in the 2019 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition.
Last week, the Massive Data Institute held its second two-day data workshop that focused on teaching students, faculty, and staff about how to conduct network analysis in Python. Led by Dr. Laila Wahedi, MDI Fellow, the workshops taught network construction, descriptive analysis, adding network variables to regression analyzes, and basic…
There is an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. As the Venezuelan government clings to power and denies that its people are sick, starving, and saddled with an increasingly worthless currency, millions of people are fleeing the failing state.
Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service at the McCourt School of Public Policy and the Walsh School of Foreign Service to Host Symposium on The Future of Diplomacy Event to Feature Keynote Conversation with The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67th Secretary of State, 2009-2013.
Automation, and the threat it poses to workers, has become an incredibly salient issue for policy experts in the U.S. and around the world. Among the think tanks tackling this issue is New America, whose Work, Workers and Technology Program strives to add a human context to discussions of automation.
Maria Cancian, incoming dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy, has been named president-elect of the Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). “It is an honor to have this opportunity to contribute to APPAM’s mission, to improve public policy and management through excellence in research, analysis and…
Congratulations to McCourt professor Nora E. Gordon and McCourt affiliated professor Jane Hannaway, who have both been named to the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.
More than two dozen Georgetown alumni were sworn into the 116th Congress Jan. 3, continuing Georgetown’s long legacy of alumni serving the public. A total of 28 alumni, who represent 21 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, will take the oath of office in the U.S. House of Representatives (21)…
Dr. Laila Wahedi, MDI’s Postdoc Fellow, won an award for her work on Russian trolls at the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA) North American Social Network (NASN) Conference held in Washington, DC on November 27-30.
Last month, the Massive Data Institute (MDI) completed its Data Workshop series that was offered throughout the fall semester. In collaborating with the Georgetown Environment Initiative (GEI), MDI put together a two-part series titled “Large Scale Analysis of Climate and Land Cover Data,” to explore climate and land cover data.
Brian J. McCabe, an Associate Professor in Georgetown’s Department of Sociology, partnered with Jennifer Heerwig, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University, is using his MDI Seed Grant to conduct research on an innovative new campaign finance program - the Democracy Voucher program - in Seattle, Washington.
Congratulations to the six McCourt students and alumni selected as Presidential Management Fellows Finalists for the class of 2019. The finalists will now be able to attend a PMF Career Fair where they will have the opportunity to interview for opportunities with their desired government agencies. Upon successful completion of…
Congratulations to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who was elected to the House Democratic Caucus chairmanship, the fifth most senior leadership position in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ben Mindes (MPP ‘19) founded the Observe D.C. initiative to provide the first representative data about the quality of election administration in Washington, D.C. Observers piloted a sample-based election observation (SBO) effort during the D.C. general elections on November 6, 2018.
MDI Seed Grant Spotlight: Janet Mann. To conduct their research, Mann and her team head out onto the water with their camera and small skiff, Ahoya, to track the Potomac dolphins.
The McCourt School welcomed Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the World Bank, as our 2018-19 Whittington Lecturer. Dr. Georgieva delivered a lecture titled “The Future of Work,” on Thursday, November 1, 2018.
This October, MDI offered two workshops on “Data Essentials: Data Analysis in Python,” which focused on helping attendees learn how to manipulate data in Python for their research.
The Massive Data Institute (MDI) at the McCourt School of Public Policy is pleased to welcome data governance, data integration, and privacy expert Dr. Amy O’Hara. Dr. O’Hara joins MDI as a Research Professor and Co-Director of U.S. Census Research Data Center (RDC) at Georgetown University.
The McCourt School is pleased to welcome Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the World Bank, as our 2018-19 Whittington Lecturer. Dr. Georgieva will deliver a lecture titled “The Future of Work,” on Thursday, November 1, 2018.
The Whittington Scholarship is a prestigious award given to a second-year McCourt student who excels academically and displays a strong commitment to serving their community. This year, our deserving winner is Alex Brillman (MPP ‘20).
In 1991, most good jobs did not require a BA. Today, there are three distinct pathways to good jobs: high school, middle skills, and bachelor’s degree, says new research from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co.
McCourt School Assistant Professor Eva Rosen has been recognized as one of the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management’s (APPAM) 40 for 40 Fellowship.
If you’ve heard that U.S. students lag behind their peers in other countries, it’s because Andreas Schleicher created the test that assesses performance for 15-year-old students across the globe. On Sept. 18, the McCourt School’s FutureEd hosted Schleicher and a panel of American education leaders to consider the lessons he’s…
September, 2018 - The McCourt School welcomes five distinguished students who have been awarded full scholarships based on their accomplishments and promise as policymakers.
September 19, 2018 - What is the most effective and scalable way to administer aid to vulnerable populations? It turns out that unconditional cash transfers to the poor may be more effective than conventional forms of foreign aid at producing positive health outcomes.
Lisa Singh, computer science professor and research professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Massive Data Institute, works on numerous aspects of data-driven computer science. One of her most recent projects is mining Twitter data around the #MeToo hashtag in collaboration with six other Georgetown professors. This research is…
September, 2018 - McCourt School of Public Policy Professor William Gormley was recently awarded $460,000 in new funding from the Heising-Simons Foundation, to continue his research on the effects of universal pre-K programs, focusing this time on high school outcomes.
Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives study highlights how using alternate assets through target date funds can increase certain investment returns and lower risk…
Spearheaded by McCourt Professor Sheila Foster, LabGov explores the idea that social and economic generation in cities can benefit from an “urban commons” framework in which communities and local governments work together and share responsibility for co-managing urban assets and resources.
A delegation of 10 Georgetown students and one George Mason student competed in the annual NYU Policy Case Competition at NYU’s campus in New York City.
The National Urban Fellows program, which strives to develop mid-career professionals, particularly men and women of color, to be leaders and change agents in the public and nonprofit sectors, will bring 30 to 40 emerging public sector leaders to McCourt to pursue a Master’s of Policy Management.
The Lugar Center, led by former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University today jointly released their new Bipartisan Index (BPI) rankings of members of Congress for 2017.
Three nonprofits were presented with monetary awards from the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership (CPNL) on April 17 during an event on “Advancing Racial Equity: Practical Steps for Philanthropists and Nonprofits.”…
On April 6, 2018 the Office of Graduate Enrichment, Graduate Student Government, McCourt School of Public Policy, and the McDonough School of Business hosted the third annual Graduate Student Awards Ceremony in the Healey Family Student Center.
Last month, McCourt students Jessica Bohache (MPP’18), Sarah Bunker (MPP’19), Weiting Li (MPP’19) and Patricia Perez De Los Rios (MPP’19) participated in global residency program in Costa Rica, to learn about the Costa Rican development model and policy challenges facing the country.
A new initiative aimed at building solutions for declining trust in institutions, greater political polarization and weakening support for democratic principles was announced this week at the McCourt School of Public Policy’s annual LEAD conference.
