Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

From pivoting after major changes reduced the federal workforce to celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Master in Public Affairs program, 2025 required meeting an extraordinary moment.

For the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, these are some of the storylines we followed this year.

Princeton SPIA Meets the Moment in 2025 | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs For the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, 2025 was a year that required meeting an extraordinary moment.

Congratulations to the Princeton SPIA faculty who were honored with various awards and offered keynote addresses on global issues. https://spia.princeton.edu/news/spiaccolades-december-2025

‣ Elke Weber was the recipient of the 2025 I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Award from HEC Lausanne.

‣ Pascaline Dupas was named to Vox’s 2025 Future Perfect 25 list.

‣ Ryan Manzuk and Igor Moric have been selected for the Museum of Science’s inaugural Science Communication Fellowship.

‣ Wolfgang Danspuckgruber’s Global Food and Water Security Project was featured in a documentary as part of the Thought Leadership Film Series, a component of CGIAR’s “With Science We Can” campaign.

‣ Harold James delivered a keynote address during an economic policy symposium, which was organized by the German Economics Ministry.

SPIAccolades — December 2025 | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Elke Weber, a professor of psychology and public affairs and the Gerhard R.

The Criminal Justice Initiative at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs convened an open data summit in August for national criminal justice leaders to come together and discuss ways to increase transparency and usability of criminal justice data.

Princeton Summit Charts Future of Criminal Justice Open Data | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs The growing amount of data available on the United States criminal justice system has made it much easier for researchers to gain deep insights into it. But the diverse community of practitioners advancing that work — including academics, public agencies, journalists, lawyers, and computer scienti...

Following recent reports of boat strikes in the Caribbean involving the United States, faculty from Princeton SPIA are sharing expert perspectives to provide context and clarity, and potential implications of the situation. https://spia.princeton.edu/news/princeton-spia-faculty-share-expert-perspectives-caribbean-boat-strikes

For nearly three decades, the policy workshop has been a cornerstone of the graduate program in public affairs at Princeton University. Building on the analytical skills acquired in the first year, the workshops are designed to help students strengthen skills like collaboration and consensus building that are not typically taught in academic settings.

Policy Workshops Offer SPIA Students Real-World Experience in Public Affairs | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs For nearly three decades, the policy workshop has been a cornerstone of the graduate program in public affairs at Princeton University. Building on the analytical skills acquired in the first year, the workshops are designed to help students strengthen skills like collaboration and consensus buildin...

In a new book, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs faculty member Atul Kohli and the University of Toronto’s Kanta Murali, a 2012 Ph.D. graduate of Princeton, point to a root cause of India’s democratic backsliding: increasing wealth disparity.

India, ‘a Troubled Giant,’ the Subject of New Faculty Book | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Home to nearly 1.5 billion people, India is the world’s largest democracy – for now. According to the Journal of Democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “government has engaged in what is, by some accounts, a wholesale dismantling of democratic institutions, norms, and practices.”“At a...

In her role as the NHL’s senior manager for player programs and culture initiatives, Melissa Parnagian ’17 helps players elevate the causes they care about off the ice.

Melissa Parnagian ’17 Helps NHL Players Elevate the Causes They Care About | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Michael Eyssimont tried hard to ignore the symptoms.As a college student, the future forward in the National Hockey League couldn’t maintain his weight or energy levels. Despite being a young and active hockey player, he needed to catch his breath after walking up a set of stairs. After months of ...

“Rethinking the 1990s: Liberal World Order-Building in the Aftermath of the Cold War” (Oxford Academic (Oxford University Press)), co-edited by G. John Ikenberry, the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs, brings together leading political scientists and historians to explore the decisions and trends that have led to the world to its current fraught moment – and what could have been done differently.

New Book Takes a Fresh Look at the Nineties and Its Impacts Today | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs With the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the reunification of Germany a year later, and the collapse of the Soviet Union a year after that, the 1990s were shaping up as a hopeful time for the West. Liberal democracy appeared to be ascendent, free trade was championed, and the catastrophic....

Three Princeton SPIA philanthropy alumni — Kathy Roth-Douquet MPA ’91, CEO, Blue Star Families; Michelle Feist MPA ’97, senior program officer, Gates Foundation; and Seyron Foo MPA ’14, chief engagement and intergovernmental relations officer, Los Angeles Affordable Housing Solutions Agency — offer career advice to future graduates looking to join a foundation.

Industry Insiders: Princeton SPIA Alumni in Philanthropy | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs For more than 90 years, alumni from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs have had meaningful careers in a multitude of industries, perhaps none more so than the federal government. But as government cuts reduce opportunities for a new group of civil servants, Princeton SPIA alumn...

In an era marked by rapid technological innovation and intensifying competition over global dominance, the Program on Science and Global Security at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs has received a $500,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to investigate how the pursuit and deployment of emerging technologies for military advantage may reshape nuclear war risks and how global diplomacy could address the related security challenges.

Program on Science and Global Security Secures $500K Grant to Probe Emerging Tech and Nuclear Risk | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs In an era marked by rapid technological innovation and intensifying competition over global dominance, the Program on Science and Global Security (SGS) at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs has received a $500,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to investigate h...