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To our readers, Welcome to the spring issue of the Bulletin. Since becoming dean in July, I have been blessed with the opportunity to meet and work with so many extraordinary and committed individuals — alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the school — who make up the Kennedy School community and to learn about the marvelous work these individuals are pursuing both here and around the world. What I have witnessed during this past year is the enormous dedication of our community to improving the world we live in — from identifying problems and seeking thoughtful solutions to solving them. In the following pages you will read about some of these people and their work — such as our cover story on professor Julie Wilson’s research into the hurdles in the foster care system that prevent children from finding homes; an excerpt from Graham Allison’s new book, Nuclear Terrorism, that provides cause for both concern and hope in preventing nuclear catastrophe; and a story about one of our students, Masuda Sultan MPA 2005, who, as a child, fled her native Afghanistan and is now working to improve the lives You will also read about the ambitious efforts now taking place at the school in evaluating the school’s research and teaching programs as well as its academic organization and budget process. These yearlong initiatives, which will culminate in both programmatic and organizational changes, reflect my recent identification of five priorities for the school. In the coming year, we will focus on sharpening and redefining our mission; hiring exceptional faculty and staff; building our capacity in public management, leadership, and professional practice; strengthening the school’s management and structure; and raising funds for critical activities, particularly student aid. We are already making strides in many of these areas. This issue, for example, reports on the recent appointments of Rosemarie Day MPP 1992 as chief of staff, Julius Babbitt MPA 2001 as director of the Office of Alumni Programs, and John Haigh MPP 1982 as executive dean, all of whom, I’m pleased to note, are Kennedy School alumni. We will also continue our commitment to promoting diversity in all respects at the Kennedy School. I know most of you have heard about the controversy surrounding President Summer’s remarks last January regarding gender diversity in science and math. The powerful response to his statements have inspired all of us to make serious progress at both the school and university level on this important issue. It is a stimulating time to be at the Kennedy School — full of change and possibility. I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished in less than a year and am excited and eager to work with you to meet the many challenges before us. Warmly, Photo: Martha Stewart
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