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for this project public concern and support for regulation of uogd: individual and contextual influences on texas residents hannibal and his istpp research partners examine the effect of county-level characteristics on individuals opinions and policy preferences about hydraulic fracturing in texas the rise of unconventional oil and gas development has led to an increase in attention and focus on the oil and gas industry in recent years much media attention and focus have been directed at hydraulic fracturing since its discovery hydraulic fracturing has been popular and has had a prominent role in oil and gas development in texas using data from istpps 2015 water-energy-food nexus public opinion survey combined with data from fracfocus the environmental protection agency the us drought monitor and the willmott and feddema climatic moisture index the researchers determine whether proximity to a well and natural environmental conditions influence concerns and policy preferences about fracking using multilevel modeling techniques the team finds mixed results some measures of proximity and drought influence attitudes about fracking while others do not they conclude their study with some policy recommendations note some problems and concerns about the lack of transparency around hydraulic fracturing and address existing limitations in data collection and availability of data for widespread analysis

mark welsh dean of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university has announced promotions for faculty members dr lori taylor and dr william norrisdr taylor has been promoted to full professor dr norris has been promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in addition to her teaching and research responsibilities dr taylor is also the director the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy her area of expertise is school finance and her award-winning research focuses on policies and environmental factors that influence school district efficiency and teacher compensation she is also a nationally recognized expert on the measurement and implications of geographic variation in the cost of education and has served as the principal researcher for multiple studies commissioned by the texas legislature and the texas education agency as well as other state and national educational organizations dr norris whose expertise includes chinese foreign economic and security policy directs the bush schools concentration in china studies program in 2015 dr norris spent a year in residence at the carnegie endowment for peace in washington dc as a stanton nuclear security fellow researching us-china escalation dynamics a frequent advisor to governmental agencies dr norris recently provided briefings and background information to rear admiral james kilby and his flag staff on the uss carl vinson as they began a five-month deployment in the western pacific he is also a member of the board of directors of the southwest conference on asian studies and serves on the faculty advisory board of the scowcroft institute of international affairs dean welsh said all of us at the bush school are incredibly proud of dr taylors and dr norriss achievements and this well-deserved recognition of their outstanding scholarship their significant contributions to public policy and international relations and their service to the school

president trump has announced that the united states will be renegotiating the north american free trade agreement (nafta) however research conducted by dr raymond robertson of the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university shows strong evidence for naftas benefits and warns against throwing the baby out with the bath water robertson observes that the objections to nafta are really about labor market adjustment problems more broadly ending nafta wont solve those problems furthermore canada and mexico are the united states top trading partners and empirical evidence shows that all three countries reap significant economic benefits from the relationship you can read more about robertsons analysis in a short policy brief titled the nafta intellect disconnect: actual costs and benefits versus popular perceptions published by the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy in the article robertson argues that the most accurate way to think of the nafta economic area is as one integrated economy rather than three separate ones that is rather than thinking of mexico as a competitor we should think of mexico as a partner in our national production process the full article can be found online at http://bushtamuedu/mosbacher/takeaway/

associate professor diego von vacano is one of seven faculty members at texas a&m university who were named arts & humanities fellows for 2017 each fellowship includes a three-year grant of $15 000 to support a scholarly or creative project diego von vacano an associate professor in the department of political science concentrates his research interests on political theory political philosophy the history of political thought comparative political theory and hispanic/latin american thought the arts & humanities fellows program is designed to stimulate interactions among scholarly and artistic faculty on our campus across the nation and around the world while also recognizing extraordinary scholarship and creativity this program creates a supportive environment for these faculty members so they may advance their work while they build strengthen and sustain long-term relationships outside their chosen disciplines a peer-review panel selected each recipient based on merit and originality professional qualifications clarity the benefit to the public and the quality of the overall presentation fellowship applications were open to all texas a&m faculty who engage in scholarship in the humanities or in creative work in the arts additionally dr von vacano has received a presidential fellowship to be an associate professor of political science at yale university for 2017-2018 visiting presidential professors are appointed as part of the initiative for faculty excellence and diversity approximately 10 exceptional scholars and practitioners who contribute to inclusive excellence are appointed each year during the initiative on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

the decades long erosion of public trust in government has recently created an upsurge of interest in how to better understand that trend three scholarsarnold vedlitz of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university; scott e robinson university of oklahoma; and james w stoutenborough idaho state universityin their book understanding public trust: environmental sustainability fracking and public opinion in american politics provide a framework for a much more complex and nuanced understanding of government trust than was available previously their research focuses on comparing overall feelings of governmental trust and mistrust to those for more specific governmental units and agencies in this case the specific agency is the environmental protection agency (epa) the authors analysis of data from a representative national survey of the public showed that citizen attributes like demographics and ideology as well as external influences such as environmentalism can have a positive or negative effect on the epas reputation whatever the individuals level of trust in government in general the authors believe that their more robust framework will be important to both scholars and practitioners as they seek to develop a more complete understanding of the publics relationship with its governmental leaders were all well aware of how much is said about growing government mistrust and how difficult it can be to explain the various roles elected and bureaucratic officials play in our complex political system vedlitz said we believe our research demonstrates that individual agencies and the professionals who work there can in spite of more general government mistrust act in ways that build confidence in and support for their public service actions understanding public trust: environmental sustainability fracking and public opinion in american politics is published by routledge publishing it can be ordered on the routledge website

dr portney and his co-authors have published the first quantitative study on the publics awareness of the food-energy-water nexus (few) so far most researchers have worked to identify and model the scientific and technical connections between the nexus elements – food and energy energy and water and water and food recognizing that it is also important to identify what the public understands about these connections as a necessary component of energizing and guiding policy portney and other researchers associated with the institute for science technology and public policy conducted a representative national public opinion survey of us adults on the few nexus using responses to various questions on the survey the researchers developed indices that measure the publics awareness of the nexus elements they then analyzed the extent to which these awareness measures influenced support for several policies that address the connections between the nexus elements that is policies that recognize the trade-offs between say growing more food but then having less water for other uses such as producing energy they found that each of the three measures correlate significantly with support for nexus-based policies suggesting that increasing peoples awareness of the few nexus could be an important means to raise support for nexus-based policy approaches portney kent e bryce hannibal carol goldsmith peyton mcgee xinsheng liu and arnold vedlitz 2017 awareness of the food-energy-water nexus and public policy support in the united states: public attitudes among the american people environment and behavior doi: 101177/0013916517706531

in their new article dr bullock and dr vedlitz explore the moderating role perceived knowledge plays in influencing emphasis framing using data from an experiment embedded in the national energy policy survey conducted by the institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) in 2012 the authors use multivariate analysis of probit and ordered probit models to test whether an emphasis frame influences policy support the test for framing effect is based on the name given in the embedded experimental vignette to a procedure used to extract natural gas from shale – either hydraulic fracturing or fracking the researchers then evaluate the degree to which perceived knowledge of the issue moderates the relationship between the emphasis frame and support for hydraulic fracturing perceived knowledge is based on how much each respondent reports having heard about hydraulic fracturing or fracking the dependent variable of policy support is based on responses to a question about whether respondents would support or oppose hydraulic fracturing or fracking in their local community bullock and vedlitz find support both for the role emphasis framing plays and for perceived knowledge as a moderator in particular they consistently find statistical support suggesting those who report having a lot of knowledge or awareness about hydraulic fracturing are influenced by the naming emphasis frame bullock justin b and arnold vedlitz 2017 emphasis framing and the role of perceived knowledge: a survey experiment review of policy research doi: 101111/ropr12231 dr justin bullock is an assistant professor in the bush school and an istpp research fellow dr arnold vedlitz is a professor and holder of the bob bullock chair in government and public policy in the bush school as well as director emeritus and distinguished research scholar for istpp

the field of cybersecurity is ever-changing dr danny davis is working to stay ahead if the game there is constant change in cybersecurity said davis a senior lecturer in terrorism cybersecurity security policy and military history at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university and director of the schools graduate certificate in homeland security there isnt much time to cover cyber history in the cyber field 2010 is history most of the issues covered in class are whats happening right now given the evolving nature of the subject of his course offerings davis also finds it important that his students are subjected to the perspectives of professionals in the field of national security his classes have welcomed guest speakers from the federal trade commission federal bureau of investigation drug enforcement agency and computer security experts known as white hat hackers i like to have people come in and talk who are actually in the field davis said in contemporary subjects like domestic terrorism and cybersecurity i think thats important in his near ten years at the bush school davis has been on the cutting edge of the field of national security through his research and teaching davis teaches three bush school courses and a capstone focused on domestic terrorism cybersecurity and homeland security through a policy and strategy lens his focus on domestic terrorism and the emerging threats to cybersecurity make him unique among his colleagues at the bush school i enjoy the classroom environment and exchanging ideas and engaging in discussion with students davis said i want to share knowledge with students and help them develop good research skills in his domestic terrorism class davis covers the history of terrorism with an emphasis on terrorism by islamist elements and international sponsors of terrorist activity his foundations of homeland security course considers policy at the federal level as well as the jurisdictional issues and interactions among local state and federal agencies in response to a crisis daviss cybersecurity course designed for managers discusses ever-evolving cyber threats to individuals and the private and public sectors in an increasingly networked world my teaching style has not changed much since i was an infantry lieutenant said davis i have high expectations and stress being prepared i ask a lot of questions throughout the class to engage students; this also gives me an indication of who has done the required reading in addition to his duties as a lecturer davis is the director of the graduate certificate in homeland security program and was appointed the coordinator for the executive master in public service and administration degree program davis has published numerous articles on domestic terrorism and national security and is currently working on a book on barksdales mississippi brigade a confederate infantry unit from the civil war i have always been interested in the civil war davis said ive visited major civil war battle fields the national archives and the mississippi state archives in putting the book together daviss forty-year career has spanned military and civilian professions with deep roots at texas a&m after completing his bachelors in history at a&m in 1976 davis served for twenty years in command and staff positions in airborne ranger and special forces units he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1997 during his time in the army davis earned a masters in international relations at troy state university he earned his phd in education from his alma matter in 2003 he came to the bush school in 2007 after being recruited by fellow bush school professor dr dave mcintyre [he] brought me in based on my work with the army in the homeland security mission davis said also the dean at the time dick chilcoat knew me from our days in the berlin brigade dick had been my battalion commanderdavis said he still draws from the leadership lessons he first learned as an aggie cadet he believes strongly in president bushs belief that public service is a noble calling and that people of character are needed to serve a perspective based on his military service and academic pursuits guides his interaction with students i want to pass along the importance of integrity in all aspects of life and work davis said of his perspective on public service just doing your job seeking out the facts not falling back on emotions this is the essence of a professional you owe your boss the best assessment of the facts you can gather

the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university recognized sixty-nine students for their achievements in earning the deans leadership certificate or the bush school medal of excellence students were presented with the award during a ceremony held at the annenberg presidential conference center the ceremony was attended by both the awardees and bush school faculty and staff including bush school dean mark welsh dean welsh offered high praise for the recognized students our graduates exemplify strong principled leadership in the field of public service welsh said through the achievement of these honors these students have gained the leadership and communication skills that will serve them well in their professional endeavors in order to receive the deans leadership certificate students are required to develop an individual leadership plan examining their personal vision values knowledge skills and professional attributes each student must demonstrate a commitment to life-long learning and leadership development through a variety of public service leadership projects and by participating in leadership workshops and individual leadership coaching sessions at the bush school fifty-three students in the public administration and international affairs departments were presented with the certificate students receiving the medal of honor also completed the requirements for the deans leadership certificate and in addition prepared a leadership reflection statement demonstrating how they can apply what they have learned during their time at the bush school the students also compiled an eportfolio a reflective integrative learning portfolio requiring students to connect their learning across interdisciplinary experiences such as participation in leadership programs courses and internships from the perspective of their professional interests sixteen students from the public administration and international affairs departments at the bush school were recognized with the medal of excellence this was the second class of students to receive the medal of excellence since it was created last year

lauren bush lauren founder of feed and granddaughter of president george h w bush spent time in the classroom with students at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university prior to her remarks at the bank of america program on volunteerism bush lauren spoke to dr laurie paarlbergs grant and project management class on monday afternoon on the social purpose business model of her company feed feed is an accessory retailer and social business that donates proceeds from each product sold to provide meals to children and families around the world bush lauren also touched on the challenges she faced launching and growing a business as a young entrepreneur and emphasized the importance of reaching out to others when seeking to solve a problem students asked about the feed foundation and how it is different from her business and how philanthropy and young peoples commitment to social action is changing paarlberg said at the end of the discussion one student mentioned that this was the ‘best guest speaker that weve had in two years! during her remarks at the annenberg presidential conference center later monday evening bush lauren spoke on creating a social business and how her grandfather influenced her perspective on public service i grew up with a grandfather who exuded the fact that public service was the life to have bush lauren said i am so grateful that my beginnings were looking up to him and wanting to do good in the world lauren bush lauren with bush school students from dr laurie paarlbergs grant and project management class the bank of america program on volunteerism is endowed through the george h w bush presidential library foundation and administered by the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the bush school the program is an effort to educate individuals and corporations on the importance of corporate citizenship and volunteer activities in todays society

presidents baseball and wins above expectations: what can sabermetrics tell us about presidential success why ronald reagan is like bobby cox and lyndon johnson is like joe torre is the title of the cover article for the 50th-anniversary edition of ps the magazine of the american political science association written by texas a&m university associate professor manuel p teodoro and professor jon r bond the article adapts the pythagorean expectations (pe) formula as a tool to analyze presidential legislative success from eisenhower to obama they also used wins above expectations (wae) as a second method of review it was determined that a parsimonious regression model and the pe formula were able to predict annual success with 90 percent accuracy the estimates of wae are uncorrelated it was determined that regression analysis did not identify any president who systematically exceeded expectations but using the sabermetric analysis indicated that republican presidents have outperformed democrats on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the bush school of government hosted its final event of the academic year on monday april 24 2017 the 2017 bank of america program on volunteerism featured lauren bush lauren founder and ceo of feed who spoke about food for thought: building a social business to change the world the event began with a welcome from bush school dean mark welsh followed by dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy who introduced ms bush lauren dr taylor noted that feed is a for-profit company with a social mission to combat world hunger that has provided over 95 million school meals since its start in 2007 ms bush lauren started her presentation unconventionally by asking the room to close their eyes and imagine the last time they were hungry she asked the crowd to try and remember how they felt were they tired were they disgruntled did they feel fear she then asked the crowd to open their eyes to a powerful image of a fragile child hovering over a plate of rice that image was coupled with a comment that one in ten children are born into a culture of chronic hunger with more people dying of hunger than hiv/aids and tuberculosis combined ms bush lauren then showed more pictures and talked about how she became interested in world hunger through her time as a student spokeswoman for the united nations world food programme (wfp) visiting listless children who lacked access to adequate nutrition because of where they were born charged her to find a way to give back not wanting to go the traditional route of earning money and giving as many advised her to do ms bush lauren combined her interest in fashion and her desire to help and came up with the design of her first feed 1 bag modeled after the burlap provision bags used by the uns wfp missions feed now sells a variety of products but continues to dedicate a portion of each sale to assist anti-hunger programs at the conclusion of her speech ms bush lauren was joined on stage by dr will brown director of the nonprofit management program at the bush school for a continued discussion dr brown asked ms bush lauren about current trends in social businesses and how consumers fit into the picture ms bush lauren noted the impact of social businesses similar to feed in putting pressure on bigger brand names to become more open and conscientious she pointed out that with social media and increased transparency in global events consumers are becoming more aware of how their purchases can impact communities by creating a marketable good for conscious consumers ms bush lauren states that companies can tap into consumer desire to give back while also participating in the market mentioning the quick success of her company dr brown asked at what point she had a revelation that this model could work that her company could really impact world hunger ms bush lauren recalled two moments when she started to see her vision coming into action the first was when she made her first contract with amazoncom which was enough to fund a full year of food for the wfp in rwanda she knew even if that was the only contribution she made it was good the second came when she saw a stranger carrying a feed bag on a new york city street going from abstract to seeing one in-person made all the difference and encouraged her to continue after the conversation concluded dr taylor joined dr brown on stage to present ms bush lauren with a plaque to show the bush schools appreciation for the work she and her company are doing to help end world hunger and to thank her for a wonderful and inspiring evening lauren bush lauren speaks to bush school students prior to the program on volunteerism lauren bush lauren with the bush school ambassadors lauren bush lauren with bush school students

if the ebola crisis which began in 2013 was a black swan in terms of recent epidemics it focused attention around the world on emerging infectious diseases and the way biological threats whether from outbreaks accidents or attacks have increased due to globalization and technological innovation the scowcroft institute of international affairs at the bush school of government and public service has now expanded its focus on the issue of global pandemics with the appointment of dr gerald w parker as director of the institutes biosecurity and pandemic policy program parker also serves as campus director for global one health for texas a&m university associate dean for global health in the college of veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences and as a strategic advisor for the institute for infectious diseases in agrilife research a us army veteran parker has a 36-year record of military and civilian experience including his service as deputy assistant secretary of defense for chemical and biological defense and as the principal deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the department of health and human services where he led efforts to prepare for and respond to public health and medical emergencies parker noted that the ebola outbreak was likely just days from becoming a pandemic and a true black swan incident and that a texas a&m system-wide approach is a new and effective way for our faculty and students to contribute to solving global security problems posed by high impact infectious diseases and other public health crises policy leaders and relevant international organizations have recognized that the future of global health security lies within the nexus of human animal and ecosystem health and that a one health approach is an essential component to help solve this global health challenge working with our partners in the a&m system the bush school will provide the link between scientific research and public policy parker said this linkage will allow researchers to study the science of infectious diseases and then relate those to government and international policy discussions on biosecurity pandemics and global security he noted a&ms long tradition of public service and the universitys potential to make significant contributions from research to policy in support of global health securitywith scientists and policy experts working together we have opportunities to help create a better future for millions around the world not only through better infectious disease prevention detection and response initiatives but also in nutrition food security and humanitarian development to mitigate conflict and high impact infectious disease outbreaks at their source my role is to support the scientists students and policy makers within our university who share this vision as well as to establish texas a&m as a premier university for global health and global health security research and policy development parker said parker also cited scowcroft institute director andrew natsios experience in worldwide health crises as another plus in the science/policy nexus natsios was formerly the administrator of the us agency for international development (usaid) where he managed reconstruction programs in the middle east and led the agencys responses to all types of natural disasters including disease outbreaks the institutes biosecurity and pandemic policy program has become a recognized player on the pandemic preparedness policy stage and will soon become a national thought leader on global health security and biosecurity natsios cited a&ms world-class programs in veterinary medicine agriculture engineering and the health sciences as keys to the bush schools ability to develop policy responses to worldwide pandemic preparedness experts in these disciplines already have experience working together and the formal linkage with the bush school will enable us to propose better strategies to prevent outbreaks from becoming pandemics and how to better respond to pandemics and other world health crises natsios said parker concurred: with professor natsios leadership we have the opportunity to get into the study of high impact infectious disease and translate our experience in dealing with them to future generations he said parker also plans to develop an educational curriculum that will offer future policy leaders an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the global biosecurity challenges of the 21st century both parker and natsios co-hosted a recent program held at the national press club in washington dc entitled black swans of pandemic disease which focused on humanitarian response planning and supply chain requirements the workshop concluded that the united states and the global community are not prepared for a pandemic and that the united states must remain globally invested in pandemic preparedness and global health underscoring the importance of the new biosecurity initiative at the bush school the institute will soon release a policy white paper the growing threats of pandemics enhancing domestic and international biosecurity that identifies gaps and policy recommendations and will hold the third of its series of conferences on global pandemics on october 16-17 2017

dave fujimoto lela akiashvili joshua causey amanda driggers megi llubani and sydney thomas a team of bush school of government and public service student researchers have developed a unique smart phone application concept to help texas a&m veterans complete their education the mobile app dogtags2diploma seeks to identify student veterans at risk of not successfully completing their academic program and provide access to campus and community resourcesthe student researchers at texas a&ms bush school of government and public service say the mobile app is currently in the pilot stage of development among texas a&m student veterans in a partnership with the texas a&m veteran resource and support center our innovative smart phone application consolidates and personalizes veteran-specific resources both on and off campus and has the potential to be used in colleges around the country team member and second-year student dave fujimoto said im really proud of the work we did to address this issuethe teams mobile app is currently in the pilot stage of use among texas a&m student veterans in a partnership with the texas a&m veteran resource and support center the team of six students entered the mobile app in the national public policy challenge at the university of pennsylvania and reached the semifinal round of the nationwide competition the national public policy challenge is an annual competition providing an opportunity for student teams to develop a policy proposal and civic campaign plan to achieve significant change in their communities it was a pleasure to serve as the advisor to the talented team of students that form the bush schools national public policy challenge team bush school professor and team advisor dr justin bullock said their idea is a clever proposal to help student veterans access university and community resources that will help those student veterans have a successful college experience graduate students from the bush school are invited each year to the challenge to compete for the $15 000 grand prize the event is co-hosted by the fels institute and governing magazine and attracts competitors from policy schools around the nation

three teams of student researchers at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university competed in and won top honors in their category at the 2017 texas a&m university student research week the students won top prizes in the competitions business administration and public affairs category this is the first time bush school students have won prizes in this university-wide competition student research week is the nations largest student research competition and is open to the universitys undergraduate graduate and professional students from all academic backgrounds the bush school student research groups competed among students studying accounting finance information and operations management business management and marketing we are very proud of all the bush school research teams who participated in this years student research week bush school dean of student affairs frank ashley said the fact that they entered this competition in addition to their regular coursework demonstrates the caliber of commitment our students have to confronting complex policy issues the students presented research in the oral and poster presentation categories mpia students joshua boatright samantha ray gregory klein valdemar martinez elaine french and nimrah riaz earned first place honors for an oral presentation of their research efforts aimed at creating a national hepatitis c strategy for romania second-year mpia capstone students ashley ruiz maribel mcmillian christopher van dam cheyney allen emma parma matthew acosta and sumer wachtendorf earned second place for an oral presentation of their research work analyzing the historical impact of operation just cause a 1989 invasion of panama during the george h w bush administration the team utilized archives in the bush library to conduct the research second-year mpsa capstone students also won first place in the poster presentation category nicole gabler sydney thomas sarayu sankar dianey leal christina harrison and elizabeth mccrory presented their research on the prevalence and costs of elder financial exploitation of alzheimers patients in texas

two bush school of government and public service colleagues at texas a&m university have teamed up to lead a multidisciplinary and multinational collaborative research survey in china dr xinsheng liu (research scientist and assistant director in the institute for science technology and public policy or istpp) and dr ren mu (associate professor in the department of international affairs) have completed three waves of china governance and public policy surveys (cgpps) the three waves were carried out in august october and december of 2016 and resulted in approximately 8 000 observations these nationwide large-scale and representative surveys cover a wide range of governance and public policy issues facing china today social-economic-educational inequality life satisfaction nationalism and patriotism pollution and environmental protection digital media and online activity public health and e-health behavior major issue concerns and policy preferences the cgpps research project involves multidisciplinary efforts across academic researchers in political science economics public health environmental research and communication studies it also involves two colleges within texas a&m university and international collaborations from three countries (united states united kingdom and china) the bush schools transformation of democracy research fund provided the main financial support for this project istpp department of international affairs and school of public health at texas a&m university as well as swansea university in the united kingdom supplied the balance of the funding the survey and research center for china household finance at the southwest university of finance and economics (swufe) staffed the local research team that implemented the surveys a number of academic studies using the data from these surveys are underway dr mu and dr liu will analyze public awareness of environmental issues and examine how the awareness evolved during the 2008-2016 period dr mu will use the survey experiments embedded in cgpps to examine the relationship between the publics awareness of inequality and their policy preferences for redistribution dr liu and colleagues will investigate several research topics including chinese nationalism/patriotism the sent-down experience and political attitudes and local pollution risk perception and water policy support research team members are also examining other topics on digital media use public health issues and life satisfaction in china

students at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university were paid a visit from former secretary of defense robert gates in their russia in international politics course the course is taught by bush school professor ambassador larry napper during the ninety-minute class period the students briefed secretary gates on their major project of the semester a simulated meeting between presidents trump and putin the students presented gates with their views on the possible agenda items for such a meeting next secretary gates offered professional advice to the students based on his experience in similar meetings during his service to eight american presidents secretary gates then responded to a wide range of questions on current problems in international relations and debates on these issues currently underway in washington before the class finished secretary gates served as us secretary of defense under president george w bush and president barack obama and was appointed director of central intelligence by president george hw bush in 1999 gates became the first dean of the bush school and became president of texas a&m university in 2002 he is currently the chancellor of the college of william & mary

the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy hosted robert s kaplan president and ceo of the federal reserve bank of dallas on monday march 27 2017 for the final conversation in public policy of the academic year bush school dean mark welsh began the evening by welcoming guests and recognizing various a&m officials and the large number of federal reserve bank of dallas employees in the audience dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute then introduced president kaplan who joined her on stage for a conversation on economic conditions and monetary policy not pulling any punches dr taylor began the conversation by asking president kaplan to give his assessment of the us economy in recent years and his outlooks for the us economy the energy industry and the texas economy president kaplan noted that the federal reserve estimates 2 ¼ % growth in us gdp in the coming year somewhat sluggish but comparable to the past seven years or so with consumers having a greater ability spend than they did before the economic crash in 2008 he also foresaw increasing stability in the energy industry and robust growth for texas kaplan added that reforms to investments and the housing market while at times unpopular have done much to improve the ability to safeguard and predict future recessions an overarching theme throughout the conversation that kaplan returned to frequently were the issues that keep him up at night: an aging work force; a globalized world in which china is shifting from a producer to consumer state; and technology advancements that are outpacing retraining noting the large number of bush school and mays school students in attendance dr taylor turned the conversation to another important aspect of the federal reserve their ability to adjust interest rates and how that affected borrowers like students president kaplan stressed that when adjusting interest rates being patient and gradually raising the rate according to market factors is key he also highlighted important changes in the us and world economies that make the high economic growth rates of previous eras unsustainable now president kaplan rounded out the mosbacher institute hosted conversation by talking briefly on the different types of leadership needed in the private sector compared to the public compared to an academic setting as an academic who has written numerous books on the topic kaplan pointed out the need for buy-in from employees being knowledgeable on subject matter and understanding the organizations structure when making decisions the crowd of over 450 joined dr taylor in thanking president kaplan with a large round of applause ending another highly informative conversation in public policy dr lori taylor and robert s kaplan l-r: daron peschel sr vp federal reserve bank of dallas; michael young president of texas a&m university; dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute; mark welsh dean of the bush school

texas a&m university president michael k young named dr kent portney professor at the bush school of government and public service to the inaugural class of presidential impact fellows the fellows represent an esteemed group of twenty-four faculty members selected for their demonstrated commitment to grand challenges through scholarship leadership and core values president young honored portney and the other awardees in a ceremony on march 7 the program will award the fellows an honorific title for life and an annual stipend of $25 000 for the next three fiscal years to accelerate each recipients pedagogy research and service impacts the selected faculty were identified by the dean of their respective colleges and confirmed by the office of the provost they are considered candidates for continued or new national and international acclaim and are expected to utilize the program to participate in national dialogue advance their scholarship and create new partnerships we acknowledge a new investment in the excellence of select faculty who through their scholarship personal commitment and results demonstrate they are rising to meet the challenges of their field and demonstrating impact towards creating a better world said young i am proud to name these faculty as the inaugural presidential impact fellows bush school dean mark welsh echoed president youngs statement president young has identified in dr portney and the entirety of the inaugural class the excellence embodied here at texas a&m and it is my hope that this honor will assist dr portney in his role as both an educator and scholar said welsh he added by the way none of us at the bush school were surprised by this announcement we already knew that dr portney rocks! dr kent portney is a professor and the director of the bush schools institute for science technology and public policy his areas of expertise include environmental policy urban sustainability urban politics economic inequality and policy analysis he has authored or co-authored nine books on economic and environmental development citizen participation and teaching critical reasoning in the social sciences he has also written numerous journal articles on urban sustainability urban politics and the local nonprofit sector

dr vedlitz istpp director emeritus and distinguished research scholar dr stoutenborough istpp senior research fellow and mr mahafza a graduate student at auburn university examine the role of proximity to major water sources in texans perceptions of risk of water scarcity from a theoretical perspective this project will aid our collective understanding of problem identification the research team tests their model of problem identification and risk assessment using data from istpps 2013 texas public water policy survey which was supported by texas sea grant na10oar4170099 they combine the survey data with geographical information systems to quantify the distances between water nearby water sources and each survey respondents zip code they find that an individuals proximity to water sources is a predictor of their water scarcity perceptions texans who live closer to water sources (both bodies of water and rivers/streams) are more likely to believe that the state has enough water to meet current needs similarly texans who live closer to a river or stream are more likely to believe that the state will have enough water to meet future needs mahafza zachary b james w stoutenborough and arnold vedlitz 2017 the role of proximity in problem identification: risk of water scarcity in texas water policy 19(1): 86–98 doi: 102166/wp2016021

mathew kurian kent e portney gerhard rappold bryce hannibal and solomon h gebrechorkos have co-authored a paper that will be presented at the dresden nexus conference to be held in germany may 17-19 2017 this paper governance of water-energy-food nexus: a social network analysis approach has been selected as one of the theme papers for the conference and will be published in the conference proceedings this paper explores how using a social network analysis approach can contribute to identifying and understanding the complex relations within the nexus and across the stakeholders associated with each element of the nexus – water energy and food this is a critical first step for developing a means of nexus governance that connects the compartmentalized management of each element in a way that reflects the inherent connectedness of their biophysical production and economic processes

dr joshua itzkowitz shifrinson an assistant professor at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university has been named the co-winner of the 2017 article award presented by the diplomatic studies section of the international studies association (isa) shifrinson s article published in the journal international security discusses the informal assurances between the soviet union and the us at the end of the cold war that nato would not expand into eastern europe the best-article award is presented annually to authors who best advance the theoretical and empirical study of diplomacy with a specific focus on writing that attempts to connect the study of diplomacy with broader issues and trends in the discipline shifrinson shares the award with vincent pouliot of mcgill university who wrote about multilateral diplomacy and the governance of international security in the european journal of international security the winners were recognized on february 24 at the dplst business meeting at the isa 2017 convention in baltimore sean lynn-jones editor of international security said he was pleased that the article had been honored professor shifrinson has written a provocative reconsideration of whether the united states promised the soviet union that nato would not expand into eastern europe after the cold war ended his article has clear implications for understanding the current state of us-russian relations said lynn-jones shifrinson is on the faculty of the bush schools department of international affairs his research interests include grand strategy power transitions and diplomatic history prior to joining the bush school shifrinson was a research fellow in the international security program at the belfer center for science and international affairs at harvard universitys kennedy school of government in 2011–2012 a fellow with george washington universitys institute for security and conflict studies in 2012-2013 and just finished a year with the dickey center at dartmouth college a full description of shifrinsons article and a link to the article itself can be found at http://belfercenterorg/publication/joshua-itzkowitz-shifrinsons-international-security-article-wins-isa-diplomatic-studies bush school alums including julie thompson claire berger and hanna fletcher were critical to the research and writing of the article

texas a&m university president michael k young has recognized bush school of government and public service senior administrative coordinator janeen wood and the office of extended education for their outstanding service to the university with the 2016-2017 presidents meritorious service award the presidents meritorious service awards recognize and reward staff for their commendable service to our great university throughout the fall nominations for the awards were submitted and selected for recognition by an anonymous committee on the basis of demonstrated commitment to the aggie core values of excellence integrity leadership loyalty respect and selfless service the bush school office of extended education was recognized for its service along with the texas a&m employment services team both janeen and the staff at the office of extended education are an essential part of our team and are integral in supporting our mission of educating principled leaders in public and international affairs bush school dean mark welsh said this honor exemplifies the exceptional work this group of individuals do and the example they set a ceremony to honor the awardees will be held on monday february 27 at 3:30 pm in msc bethancourt ballroom with a reception to follow the teams will be recognized with a plaque for departmental display as well as $200 a framed certificate of recognition and a lapel pin individual recipients will receive a $1 000 cash award a commemorative plaque and a lapel pin the presidents meritorious service awards program is sponsored by the office of the president and the association of former students and coordinated by the division of human resources and organizational effectiveness the bush school office of extended education coordinates the bush schools certificate programs for working professionals in the fields of homeland security nonprofit management national security affairs and international affairs the team is comprised of rebecca burgner lynn cagle linda heritage jennifer lampo ruth mcmullan courtney shuttlesworth and ashlee treadway more information on the office can be found at bushtamuedu/certificate/

the recent confirmation of former texas governor rick perry to head the us department of energy presents an opportunity for a smarter price-based energy policy according to dr james griffin professor in the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university dr griffin has authored a new policy brief in the takeaway entitled a smart price-based energy policy where he argues that current us energy policy is overly reliant on ineffective solutions like tax credits grants and mandates when what is needed are price-based policies encouraging technological innovation to keep energy reasonably cheap but also reasonably clean and secure expanding on perrys comments during his confirmation hearing that he will commit to helping provide stable reliable affordable and secure sources of american energy griffin discusses the need for a leveled field of competition in the energy market left largely untouched by congress a smart energy policy does use government research and development funds to stimulate advances in basic energy research and high-cost initial development projects griffin writes [research and development] funding decisions should be made by knowledgeable professionals in the energy department not congress dr griffin is professor of economics and public policy and holds the bob bullock chair at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university he is the author of a smart energy policy: an economists rx for balancing cheap clean and secure energy and the leading energy economics text energy economics & policy the mosbacher institute was founded in 2009 to honor robert a mosbacher secretary of commerce from 1989 to1992 and key architect of the north american free trade agreement through the institutes three core programs–integration of global markets energy in a global economy and governance and public services–the objective is to advance the design of policies for tomorrows challenges to read the full report go to bushtamuedu/mosbacher/takeaway/

seven graduate students from the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university are getting an up-close view of the 85th session of the texas legislature as part of their capstone course led by bush school professor dr ann bowman the students arrived in austin in early january ready to apply their bush school education as they work on the many public policy issues confronting the state of texas the students are hired to work in the offices of members of the texas house of representatives and senate or for legislative committees for the duration of the legislative session they serve as legislative aides and analysts and quickly find themselves in the thick of the action these positions offer students the opportunity to learn a great deal about how state government functions in addition students can take advantage of numerous networking opportunities provided by bush school graduates who are working or have worked in the legislature these offices are adding motivated well-informed and highly skilled individuals to their team dr bowman said of the students currently serving in austin legislatures are fascinating policymaking institutions replete with rules and norms that are seldom seen by the public the university and the state benefit as well from the work of these talented masters students who are committed to public service in addition to their legislative work the students take classes during the semester typically online courses they spent the fall semester preparing for the experience by learning all they could about legislatures in general and the texas legislature in particular four sets of bush school capstone students have worked in the legislature which meets every other year not unlike other bush school capstones at the end of the semester they will produce an in-depth research report the focus of this years report will be on lawsuits filed by the state of texas challenging the federal government in previous years the texas legislative capstones have studied the legislative redistricting process the texas rainy day fund and the professionalization of the texas legislature the students serving at the capitol are: rebekah calahan representative gary vandeavers officedanielle drastata senate committee on health and human servicesann marie garcia house committee on culture recreation and tourismmatthew gaskin representative helen giddings officejesus perales senator josé rodríguezs officepatrick philpott senate committee on educationtheo plowman representative j m lozanos office

the mosbacher institutes 2017 education policy workshop featured dr susanna loeb from stanford university who spoke on more than a nudge: the potential of low-cost behavioral interventions to improve educational experiences and outcomes the case of ready4k her colleague in the ready4k research and bush school professor dr kalena cortes introduced dr loeb to a full crowd at the george bush presidential library and museum given the importance of adults in the lives of children dr loeb and her research team are interested in behavior interventions to improve parentingproviding information and resources to parents to help them maximize their goals one challenge they knew would need to be overcome is cognitive load or the overwhelming number of choices and competing demands that we all and particularly parents face they also knew they wanted to get away from low-access and high-cost initiatives like parenting workshops and in-house visits so they developed a curriculum with information and tips for parents on how to interact with their children delivered three times per week using short text messages with 97% of adults under the age of 50 possessing cell phones and 98% of those adults using texting text-messaging offers a promising low-cost avenue to help nudge parents toward the behaviors that will help their children succeed by collecting data from pre-enrollment surveys teachers parent surveys and 1-on-1 literacy assessments the researchers were able to evaluate whether the program did lead to improved outcomes they found there was some improvement for all kids in the program but significant improvement for the children who started with the lowest performance levels on literacy assessments with early success in san francisco ready4k is now being offered in other parts of the country looking to see if the lessons learned in california can be transferred to places like dallas or miami-dade county as well as adapting the program to add social-emotional behaviors math support and other interventions where a text messaging curriculum might benefit students of all ages the event finished with audience questions ranging from particulars about the research to possible avenues for future research in text-based curriculum dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute closed the program with thanks and applause for dr loeb and then invited all to a reception in the library rotunda in addition to her workshop presentation during her visit to the bush school dr loeb also led a breakfast discussion with students concentrating in education policy visited an education policy class and met with several faculty members about shared research interests dr lori taylor dr susanna loeb and dr kalena cortes

dr robert greer is possibly the only man on earth who can make local government debt cool luckily thats a big part of his job i try to connect the subject matter to the real world said greer an assistant professor at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university i like to include as [many] active learning strategies as i can and make sure the material is applied as well as it can be combining theory with the reality that students want to graduate and get jobs greer is an expert in state and local government debt and joined the bush schools department of public service and administration faculty in summer 2016 after three years as an assistant professor at the university of georgia school of public and international affairs originally from denton greer was pulled home to texas by both the lure of a position at a top-tier research institution and the idea of being close to his family i consider myself fortunate greer said academics dont often have a say in where they end up in 2013 greer earned his phd and master of public policy from the martin school of public policy and administration at the university of kentucky there he studied local government debt and public finance before taking a position at uga where he taught graduate-level courses in public financial management and an undergraduate course on the politics of the budgeting process at the bush school greer teaches courses in public budgeting and public management and in policy formation through the schools executive masters program his classes reflect a balance between lecture and discussion depending on the subject im doing a lot of active teaching and im asking questions and im trying to facilitate as much student-led discussion as possible said greer of his public management course however his budgeting course is more lecture based even in the budgeting course i try to make use of a lot of case studies a lot of real-world situations greer credits the development of this teaching style to his undergraduate liberal arts education complemented by his graduate studies a graduate of trinity university and the university of north texas greer framed his outlook on teaching from strategies used at those institutions such as analysis of current events and speaking with practitioners in the field i was very fortunate throughout my academic training to have very good teachers greer said of his educational experiences those experiences drove me to say ‘oh im teaching in the same environment; i found that useful; i want my students to have the same opportunities greer said i try to make [the material] as practically oriented as i can the management of state and local government debt is the primary emphasis of greers research agenda with his latest research project focused on methods of sale or how local governments issue bonds attract investors and approach banks greer is also taking an interdisciplinary approach to his research working with professors at the bush school and in the larger a&m campus on the topics of bureaucratic payment errors and equity across water districts this expertise in local finance and fiscal management makes greer unique among bush school faculty as does his representation of a generation of scholars educated at schools of public administration and public policy we are used to the interdisciplinary nature of how connected these areas are greer said this became apparent to me just this semester as i was teaching both policy formation and management the crossover is important it is important that both of these fields are aware of each other and talk to each other the boundaries are blurred between what is policy studies and what is management studies as he wraps up his first academic year at the bush school greer looks forward to making progress on his research projects and developing his expertise in his area of study further he is working to develop new elective courses in fiscal management i appreciate the opportunities that the bush school presents and the stressed importance of good people doing good work said greer [the bush school] gives me the freedom to continue on the path of being at the forefront of [my] research area

lindsay sansom doctoral candidate in ecosystem science & management at texas a&m and coordinator for the interdisciplinary us-mexico transboundary water governance project presented two research studies at the world water congress xvi in cancun mexico the first study us-mexico water cooperation and conflict examined changes in the level and nature of conflict and cooperation between these two countries on transboundary water issues sansom and her co-author istpp director kent portney used mirumachis transboundary water interaction nexus (twins) matrix to categorize this binational relationship their research identified four distinct historical periods each period reflects different water issues such as water scarcity and how each nations responses contributed to an increase or decrease in the intensity of conflict and cooperation in governing the shared water resource in her second project the hueco bolson: a case for improved transboundary aquifer management sansom evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of governance structures in place and others that are in development for managing this at-risk shared aquifer the viability of the hueco bolson aquifer shared by texas new mexico and mexico is threatened by decreases in water quantity and quality there are multiple levels of governance that apply to water rights and use of the hueco bolson – international agreements between mexico and each state mexican and chihuahuan governing organizations as well as those in texas and new mexico sansom also presented at the universities council on water resources conference held in ft collins colorado in this project understanding how risk perception and trust impact binational cooperation over water sharing: texas-mexico case study sansom develops a theoretical model about how the interplay of social economic and political systems influence risk perceptions and trust which in turn effect ones willingness to engage in cooperative or conflictual behavior she proposes to test this multi-level model by interviewing and surveying stakeholders on both sides of the border who manage or make decisions over transboundary waters

dr melissa k merry was presented with the inaugural arnold vedlitz award during the 2017 southern political science association annual conference held january 12-14 in new orleans merry is the author of framing environmental disaster: environmental advocacy and the deepwater horizon oil spill published in 2016 the award will be given annually to authors of seminal books or articles focusing on the environmental politics of the american south with special consideration given to the gulf coast area the $400 annual research award and accompanying plaque was created by vedlitz to encourage scholars to study the region and its unique environmental challenges dr vedlitz hails from shreveport louisiana and holds the bob bullock chair in government and public service at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university vedlitz is renowned in his field for his extensive research in science technology the environment and public policy dr merry is a professor of political science and faculty member at the university of louisville where she studies environmental politics and policy interest groups and communications she received her ma and phd in political science from the university of washington and has been published in the academic journal american politics research

mark welsh dean of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university was recognized as a living legend of aviation at an award ceremony held january 20 in beverly hills california living legends of aviation are recognized annually for their remarkable accomplishment in aviation other 2017 honorees included ray conner vice chairman of boeing company; dr tom enders ceo of airbus group; elling halvorson founder and chairman of the board for papillon group; and nick popovich aviation repossession expert the kiddie hawk air academy a nonprofit organization seeking to educate and spark childrens interest in aviation produces the event which is now in its fifteenth year a graduate of the us air force academy welsh became dean of the bush school after a long and distinguished military career which included service as the twentieth chief of staff of the air force commander of us air forces in europe commander of natos air command associate director of military affairs at the central intelligence agency and commandant of the us air force academy im honored and humbled to be recognized alongside individuals who have made such significant contributions to the field of aviation said welsh actor and pilot john travolta hosted the awards ceremony which also honored astronauts mark and scott kelly as well as humanitarian aid pilot peter paul luce

former florida governor jeb bush teaching at the bush school in january a day-by-day account of the ten-day course entitled governors in the state nation and world taught by former florida governor jeb bush at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university day 1: friday former florida governor jeb bush kicked off the class with a hearty howdy on friday january 6 the day began with a lecture and discussion with former mississippi governor and republican national committee chairman haley barbour barbour and bush took questions from the class and spoke on their respective experiences governing through times of crisis including hurricane katrina in 2006 after barbours visit students heard from danny diaz bushs campaign manager for his 2016 presidential bid and kathleen shanahan bushs former chief of staff both spoke to the class of sixty about running gubernatorial campaigns and the roles and responsibilities of a governor and state government upon breaking for lunch the class divided into small groups tasked with solving a major issue faced by a governor in recent years topics included the passage of a 2012 arizona immigration law the 2016 flint water crisis and the ongoing budget negotiations in illinois the groups were directed to apply lessons learned in class to their individual challenge and to present their findings on the last day of the course the days class concluded with a video message from bushs brother and former us president george w bush president bush spoke on his experience as governor of texas and the challenges he faced working with the legislature governor bush informed the class that other state governors would also deliver video addresses throughout the course before dismissing students for the weekendday 2: monday mondays class focused on a governors role with the state legislature and state judicial system students were given the opportunity to hear from former president of the florida senate and lt governor toni jennings and raquel rocky a rodriguez who served as general counsel to governor bush and currently serves as the elected chair of the judicial nominating commission for floridas third district court of appeal before hearing from the impressive guest speakers bush discussed his efforts to address drug and alcohol abuse while governor this led to a conversation on the recent opioid epidemic impacting states across the country bush invited students to suggest state policy solutions and provided feedback on their ideas the discussion highlighted the intricacies within drug and law enforcement policy throughout the day students continued to hear from past governors via video message one video featured former north carolina governor james hunt who served four terms from 1977 to 1985 and again from1993 to 2001 hunt discussed his long career and explained how he formed relationships with the state legislature to support his policy efforts forming relationships with legislators was also the theme of the days other video which featured commentary from a multitude of governors in addition to former governor hunt former governors mitt romney (ma) mike huckabee (ar) and tom ridge (pa and first secretary of homeland security) weighed in on the importance of building relationships with legislatures in order to successfully carry out their policy agendas day 3: tuesday day three tackled fiscal policy and issues related to state provision of services featuring a set of speakers well versed in such topics the class began the day with a presentation by donna arduin who served as the director of the florida office of policy and budget under governor bush her presentation covered the basics and complexities of budgeting for the government of a state alan levine currently ceo of the mountain states health alliance also spoke to the class about his role in in the bush administration as secretary of health administration both levine and arduin answered questions from the class before the students broke into working groups over lunch upon returning from the break governor bush arduin and levine posed a budgeting crisis scenario in louisiana to the class asking for proposals to resolve a hundred million dollar budget shortfall students suggested a number of policies to increase revenue lessen expenditures and attract industry to the state a video address discussing the challenges of governing from former indiana governor mitch daniels wrapped up the days lecture before the students assembled for a photo with governor bush day 4: wednesday students received a firsthand look at bushs state education plan during wednesdays class his former deputy chief of staff for education patricia levesque spoke to the class about the implementation of bushs a+ education plan levesque currently serves as chief executive officer of excel in ed an education reform nonprofit organization chaired by bush bush and levesque led the class in a hearty discussion before introducing bill simmons bushs director of management services simons discussion of state procurement and civil service reform was interrupted by a brief visit from bushs father president george hw bush president bush greeted the students and sat in on the classs q&a session with simon video addresses from howard dean former governor of vermont and mitt romney former governor of massachusetts were presented before and after the hour-long lunch breakout sessions bush as well as simon and levesque visited student groups during the breakout sessions and advised them on the individual challenges posed at the beginning of the class after lunch governor bush led a discussion on the role of the governor in foreign policy specifically referring to his own experience working on issues of trade and border security in florida the class then held a video conference with former west virginia governor and the states current senator joe manchin senator manchin talked with the class about his challenges both as governor and in congress specifically the loss of coal jobs in west virginia and balancing the states budget day 5: thursday thursdays class spanned a number of topics beginning with a presentation from current fema administrator and former florida director of emergency management w craig fugate fugate spoke to students about his experience overseeing hurricane response efforts and working with governor bush fugates presentation was followed by a conversation among governor bush bushs longtime press secretary kristy campbell and ap reporter gary fineout fineout who worked in the capitol press corps during bushs tenure as governor spoke on the role of media at the state level and media response to the actions of a governor bush campbell and fineout took questions from the class and recalled instances of cooperation between bushs administration and the capital press corps former baltimore mayor and maryland governor martin omalley joined the class after the break giving a presentation on the role of data in 21st century government omalley and bush fielded questions from the class on their experience as governors before teaming up in a horseshoe match organized by students in class the two governors took on second-year bush school students sean danielson and will holleman and won the match in a landslide 15-3day 6: friday fridays class began with a discussion on state-federal relations concluding a week of speakers and presentations on the governors role within the state governor bush began the morning speaking about his own interactions with the federal government during his time in office specifically on issues of federal funding he then introduced wendy riemann a speechwriter for governor bush who spoke on her experience as director of federal relations for wisconsin governor scott walker riemanns remarks were followed by an off-the-cuff conversation between the class and four of governor bushs former travel aides the aides who spoke to the class via video conference talked about the unconventional political education they gained working as support staff to the governor and told stories about the more humorous points of their jobs the afternoon featured presentations by three student groups who had spent the previous week preparing solutions to situations faced by governors in recent years the three groups presented information about the flint water crisis the ongoing budget impasse in illinois and the passage of hb 1040 in arizona and resulting protests; then they provided their informed recommendations for solving the problems faced by the governors of the three states each group took questions from the class after giving their presentations to wrap up the week the class viewed a video address from current texas governor greg abbott before being dismissed day 7: monday the course wrapped up on monday january 16 with remarks from governor bush and a set of student presentations governor bush began the morning with words of advice for the aspiring public servants enrolled in the class and introduced the remaining four student groups charged with presenting solutions to issues faced by a governor groups presented on oklahoma governor mary fallins response to a botched execution in 2011; the implementation of colorados recreational marijuana law; riots in ferguson missouri; and wisconsin governor scott walkers response to protests over his cuts to labor unions each presentation garnered a robust discussion among the class and presenters after the presentations bush school dean mark welsh addressed the class he thanked governor bush for his time and presented him with a bush school pullover as well as a framed picture of governor bush and the class signed by each student dean welsh also recognized the bush school staff and faculty who had coordinated the course as well as members of the governors staff finally the class concluded with a brief video address from former arkansas governor mike huckabee

when bryce barros passed through the sliding doors of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university in fall 2015 his entrance was seven years in the making i knew i wanted to go to the bush school since i was a freshman [in college] barros said i had a close friend that told me about the quality of the program and its affordability and the institution that is aggieland makes it a real bang for the buck a connecticut native barros attended norwich university in northfield vermont there he was a member of the norwich university corps of cadets and began studying mandarin chinese after spending the better half of his childhood learning japanese because the university did not offer a japanese language program barros was faced with a change up to that point i was set on being a japan hand i loved the japanese language culture and people and had a very japan-centric view barros said i thought learning any other asian language was beneath me as his focused shifted barros received scholarships from the us department of defense to study in china before receiving a boren scholarship to study in taiwan the republic of china named for former oklahoma senator david l boren the highly competitive boren scholarships are offered to undergraduate students to study language in regions of the world critical to us interests and security he elected to study in taiwan because of the islands rich history and culture and because of opportunities presented by a norwich exchange program with the taiwan army through the republic of china military academy i knew that no other american not even active duty military personnel would have the opportunity to be embedded with a foreign military so critical to shaping american foreign policy barros said i knew that the opportunity would provide real hands-on exposure to diplomacy and military affairs that would set me apart from my peers the experience was far more than i could have hoped for upon graduating from norwich in 2012 barros returned to taiwan to further his expertise prior to entering the field of us foreign policy he continued his study of mandarin and chinese culture and began freelancing for a magazine covering green energy development in the south region of asia barros developed an affinity for the island nation with its low cost of living and geographic location i came to really like taiwan i call it the best kept secret of the asia-pacific its cheap to live the people are very nice and its tropical its a complete 180 degree experience from what i had in china barros said he also traveled to southeast asia extensively while living in taipei gaining a broader political and cultural knowledge of the region in taiwan i got to see diplomacy up close and personal [the] experience prepared me for work in the foreign service and larger defense community barros said it was also in taiwan that barros met a group of bush school students that re-introduced him to the bush school there he met a recent a&m graduate who introduced him to current bush school students and graduates who increased his understanding of the schools curriculum and mission from these testimonials barros made a decision to apply i knew i didnt want to go back to connecticut and i wanted to see more of this large country of ours barros said as a northeasterner i have a natural aversion to anything not on the west and east coasts so i figured id go to aggieland make a bit of that texan industrious spirit my own and try the third coast on for a ride upon enrolling at the bush school in fall 2015 barros quickly took to the schools familial nature and emphasis on public service as well as feeling a connection between himself and the schools namesake george h w bush the bush family is originally from my home county in connecticut fairfield county said barros that connection and their story as new englanders that came to texas to make something really resonates with me barros has credited the bush school with developing his analytical abilities and critical thinking skills a skill set he believes will be indispensable in his future career endeavors the bush school taught me how to cherish dispassionate analysis and cut the wheat from the chaff on various issues affecting us locally nationally and internationally barros said being one to fully immerse himself in his surroundings barros is involved in a range of activities at the bush school and on the main campus of texas a&m university he works as a graduate research assistant and participates in the activities of the bush school diversity and inclusion committee last year barros took part in the annual student conference on latin affairs (scola) and being conversational in chinese he performed a comedy routine in his second language at the chinese student and scholar associations chinese new year gala last february a condition of his boren scholarship requires barros to work within the federal government for at least one year as he looks toward graduation in may he wants to fulfill this requirement either within texas or back on his home coast i hope to help advance american interests in whichever way i decide to fulfill my boren scholarship federal service requirement barros said adding i truly miss the northeast and cannot wait to get back home but i will miss texas as well and intend to wear cowboy boots wherever i go

drs arnold vedlitz samuel brody and himanshu grover have recently published their study on the us publics perceptions of climate change risk and how these perceptions are influenced through a risk-stress-capacity model that combines of individual and local environmental factors in this way their study provides a deeper understanding of risk perception and its implications for climate change policy the authors use data from a noaa-funded representative national survey of us adults to assess several key variables – individual stress individual capacity and climate change risk perception the individual stress measure based on 16 survey questions captures respondent behaviors that contribute to climate change using 17 survey questions the individual capacity variable represents respondent views about their responsibility and ability to respond to climate change risk perception based on seven survey questions includes anticipated impacts on several aspects of the individuals well-being these survey variables are then integrated with measures of scientific risk assessments and historical natural disasters associated with climate change effects these objective measures of risk are geographically localized and linked to respondents via zip code in keeping with their hypotheses the researchers find that respondents with higher levels of objective risk and individual capacity have a statistically significant higher perception of climate change risk respondents with higher individual climate stress have a lower risk perception of climate change drs vedlitz brody and grovers study has several implications first communicating about climate change should be more effective in conveying its risks when local effects are emphasized second educating people on the causes and localized impacts of climate change should increase support for localized responses and third connecting climate change risks with pro-environment behavior may lead to greater integration and support for policies that incorporate climate change with local sustainability efforts grover himanshu samuel d brody and arnold vedlitz 2017 understanding climate change risk perception in the usa international journal of global warming 13(2): 113–137

the women peace and security (wps) symposium provides a timely opportunity to address the challenges and opportunities of the wps agenda by discussing them in a bi-partisan environment developing connections between texas regional and national stakeholders this symposium was held on november 18 2016 at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university symposium highlights | symposium agenda symposium highlights women peace and security symposium: dean mark welshs opening remarks dean mark welshs opening remarks women peace and security symposium: sahar aziz on migration waves and women sahar aziz on migration waves and women women peace and security symposium: valerie hudson on why women peace and security matters valerie hudson on why women peace and security matters women peace and security symposium: representative bill flores representative bill flores women peace and security symposium: secretary deborah james on combat integration secretary deborah james on combat integration women peace and security symposium: ltc christine rice on integration in the us military ltc christine rice on integration in the us military women peace and security symposium: natalie gonnella platts natalie gonnella platts women peace and security symposium: ellen haring on integration in the us military ellen haring on integration in the us military women peace and security symposium: beverly hill on foreign policy and gendercide beverly hill on foreign policy and gendercide women peace and security symposium: deborah cavin on the national action plan deborah cavin on the national action plan women peace and security symposium: brigadier general joseph ramirez on integration of the corp brigadier general joseph ramirez on integration of the corp women peace and security symposium: brainstorming brainstorming symposium agenda women peace and security:new vistas for a new administration information friday november 18 20169:30 pm – 4:30 pm registration q&a – opening seating; no reservation required11:45 am – 12:15 pmbanquet room 1011b of the annenberg pcc reception – no reservation required4:30 pm – 5:30 pmpcc lobby panels – seating is limited to 20 participants for panels location annenberg presidential conference center1002 george bush drive westcollege station texas 77843 description the women peace and security (wps) symposium at the bush school of government and public service provides a timely opportunity to address the challenges and opportunities of the wps agenda by discussing them in a bi-partisan environment developing connections between texas regional and national stakeholders program agenda the symposium will be held in the presidential dining room of the annenberg center seating for the panels audience is limited to 20 persons and is first come first serve you must arrive on time for the panel and stay for the entire panel so as not to disrupt the proceedings the q&a session will be in 1011b in the annenberg center; we will have refreshments and seating is more generous: bush school students are especially invited the closing reception is in the annenberg lobby and is open to all bush school students faculty and staff friday november 18 2016 9:30 am–9:50 am – conference welcome addressdean mark welsh iii the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university 9:50 am–10:25 am – symposium opening orientation the bush school of government and public service (tamu)why the women peace and security agenda matters why it matters to the united states and why it matters nowvalerie m hudson the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university 10:25 am–11:35 am – first plenary session: women peace and security part i the united states air forcecombat integration and other challenges/opportunities for the military servicesdeborah lee james secretary of the us air forcethe george w bush center (smu)the womens initiative of the bush centernatalie gonnella-platts deputy director the womens initiative the bush institute and bush centerthe bush school of government and public service (tamu)the bush schools program on women peace and securityvalerie m hudson the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university 11:35 am-11:45 am – break 11:45 am-12:15 pm – q&a with bush school masters students 12:20 pm–1:15 pm – panelists lunch 1:15 pm–1:25 pm – break 1:25 pm–2:30 pm – second plenary session: women peace and security part ii the institute for inclusive securitynational action plans and the new administrationdeborah cavinthe gendercide awareness projectforeign policy and gendercidebeverly hilltexas a&m university law schoolmigration waves and womensahar aziz 2:35 pm–3:30 pm – integration of women in the military services texas a&m corps of cadetsintegration in the corpsbrigadier general joseph ramirez (ret) commandantus armyintegration in the us armyltc christine rice chief women in the service/soldier 2020 dmpm hqda g-1 us armywomen in international securityintegration in the us militaryellen haring women in international security (wiis)us house of representativesreflectionsrepresentative bill flores (tx-17) 3:30 pm–3:40 pm – break 3:40 pm–4:15 pm – brainstorming: moving the ball forward (brenda oppermann moderator) finding helpful information partners and resourcesdiscussion on current and potential executive and legislative actionways to continue the discussion in washington dc 4:15 pm-4:30 pm – closing remarksvalerie m hudson the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university 4:30 pm–5:30 pm – reception (lobby)

dr john schuessler spent five years in montgomery alabama as an associate professor of strategy at the air war college in august 2016 he came to the bush school where he joined the international affairs faculty its a good fit said dr schuessler of his new role within the bush school im teaching graduate students just as i did at the air war college and im also teaching courses that blend theory and history as well as courses on security studies with the added focus on public service which is emphasized here at the bush school he added a native of decatur illinois schuessler earned a ba from the university of notre dame and his masters and phd degrees from the university of chicago he has held positions as a research fellow at harvard universitys belfer center for science and public affairs and as a lecturer and post-doctoral fellow at the committee on international relations at the university of chicago his research interests include security studies american foreign policy strategy and diplomatic and military history schuessler is the author of the recent book deceit on the road to war: presidents politics and american democracy published by cornell university press and his research has been published in several major academic journals including international security and perspectives on politics he has chaired the foreign policy section of the american political science association and is a contributing editor to strategic studies quarterly among many other professional activities along with his work developing leadership courses at the air war college he considers publication of the book one of his best achievements the perseverance to see a book through to publication is essential when its published you cant help but feel a certain amount of gratitude that you were able to generate at least the germ of an idea and then execute it schuessler said as a tenured associate professor schuessler teaches leadership in international affairs a required course for all international affairs students that he describes as an eclectic interdisciplinary course focused on international politics and leadership skills in the two sections of the course schuessler teaches he routinely assigns one book per week which he makes a point to read himself i absolutely will read with the students schuessler said i am a firm believer in reading things over and over again the ideas slip out after the first read and you have to constantly remind yourself whats in these texts and you read it differently each time the seminar-based course reflects a teaching style schuessler learned during his education at the university of chicago after assigning a text schuessler expects his students to come to class ready to nail down the argument before determining the implications and leadership lessons that can be derived i follow the seminar format where you read an important book or a great book digest it thoroughly debate its contents thoroughly schuessler said very little black and white all sorts of gray wrestling with ideasgraduate students are the ideal audience for that schuessler will teach american grand strategy in spring 2017 and a forthcoming course on realism and liberalism in us foreign policy schuessler is also focused on research efforts in the areas of security studies american foreign policy strategy and diplomatic and military history the thread that runs through all of my research is the use of theory and history to shed light on current events a lot of [my] focus tends to be historical schuessler said he will use this perspective in his latest research project with bush school professor josh shifrinson as they study how the geographic position of the us has enabled its expansion abroad schuessler looks forward to future opportunities at the bush school he hopes to further develop leadership and strategy courses to appeal to a broader range of students and participate in research collaborations with fellow faculty members and others outside the bush school

the institute for science technology and public policy conducted in 2015 the first of its kind national public opinion survey that explores the american publics awareness concerns and attitudes risk perceptions and policy preferences about the food-energy-water (few) nexus this survey was designed to gather data about the publics understanding of the trade-offs and synergies related the connections between water and energy water and food and food and energy two research projects based on the few nexus survey were presented at the 2016 national meeting of the american political science association held september 1–4 in philadelphia pa the first project cognitive awareness of the food-energy-water nexus: ideological and policy perspectives presented by istpp director dr portney co-authored with bryce hannibal carol goldsmith peyton mcgee xinsheng liu and arnold vedlitz director uses the survey results to construct an awareness index of each node of the nexus to ascertain the publics relative levels of understanding and awareness of each node the results suggest that there is considerable variation in the extent to which people make the connections between water and energy water and food and food and energy and even though the three awareness indices were separately measured analysis indicates that people who are aware of any one nexus are highly likely to be aware of the others as well this suggests that people likely have an underlying nexus cognition construct the researchers then analyzed the degree of association between these awareness indices and support for public policies that act on the nexus they find that those who see the connections in the nexus nodes are more likely to support policies designed to achieve greater efficiencies in resource use and resource protection so promoting an understanding of any of the nexus nodes may increase awareness of the other nexus nodes and thereby increase support for policies designed with an understanding of the tradeoffs and synergies inherent in the nexus and the second project exploring citizens support for policy tools at the food energy water nexus presented by dr ann om bowman and co-authored with dr justin bullock focuses on how public policies can be crafted to provide more efficient and equitable allocation of the few nexus resources using a series of analytic techniques including factor analysis and factor score regressions the researchers identified the types of policies citizens support and the factors that drive public support for such policies having more knowledge about few nexus issues increases ones support for policies to manage food energy and water resources broad concern for the environment also increases favorability for these policies not surprisingly public support varies by political ideology political party identification and education these results contribute to an understanding of the publics willingness to embrace the various roles government can play in addressing few nexus issues the researchers contend that policymakers and scientists can garner more support for these policies by more effectively communicating relevant technical facts of the few nexus and by highlighting the far-reaching impact these issues have on the environment

northrop grumman has elected mark welsh dean of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university to the companys board of directors we are delighted that mark welsh has joined our board of directors said wes bush chairman chief executive officer and president of northrop grumman corporation his extensive leadership experience and deep understanding of global security are a great fit for our board and we are excited about the contributions he will make as northrop grumman employees around the globe work to create value for our customers and shareholders a graduate of the us air force academy the army command and general staff college the air war college and the national war college welsh also has significant academic expertise in national security and defense studies as chief of staff of the air force welsh was responsible for the organization training and equipping of 664 000 active-duty guard reserve and civilian forces serving in the united states and overseas welsh and other members of the joint chiefs of staff functioned as military advisers to the secretary of defense national security council and the president welsh will join a board of thirteen independent directors of the global security firm it is a privilege to have been elected to this position on the board of a leading global organization welsh said northrup grumman has a long and proud history of supporting our nations national defense and im pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to their efforts northrop grumman provides innovative systems products and solutions in autonomous systems cyber c4isr strike and logistics and modernization to government and commercial organizations the company is headquartered in falls church virginia

mark welsh dean of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university has been selected to serve as a member of the us air force academy endowment board of directors welsh is a 1976 graduate of the air force academy and a forty-year air force veteran we are thrilled to have mark join our board of directors endowment president and ceo mark volcheff said general welsh knows the needs of the air force academy and what it will take to prepare our air force for the future his leadership and mentoring will help guide the endowment on its mission to provide the margin of excellence support that is critical to the cadet experience at the air force academy the air force academy endowment is the preeminent organization providing stewardship of major gifts to the military institution in colorado springs colorado in 2015 the endowment raised over $16 million for the academy welsh said he was delighted to have this opportunity to serve his alma mater im incredibly honored to join the endowment board welsh said there is no better cause than helping our cadets prepare for a life of service to our air force and the nation and there is no better group to stand beside in that effort than the members of this board im humbled by the opportunity and grateful for the chance to continue serving our academy

istpp research scientist xinsheng liu and director arnold vedlitz along with institute senior research fellow scott robinson have published their article public problem characterization policy solution generation and intra-agenda connectivity in policy studies journal drawing on policy agenda theories the authors develop a typology to theorize the relationships between problem characterization and policy solution in the news media they further employ content analysis and statistical modeling to demonstrate that the likelihood of policy proposal in the news media is significantly influenced by how the news media define and frame a public issue along four issue attribute dimensions: issue image issue scope issue linkage and narrative style this research highlights the intrinsic problem definition-policy alternative connection and contributes to both policy process and political communication theories of agenda setting research xinsheng liu scott robinson and arnold vedlitz 2016 public problem characterization policy solution generation and intra-agenda connectivity policy studies journal doi: 101111/psj12163

faculty and staff of the bush school of government and public service gathered to recognize outstanding faculty and staff members for their dedication and contributions to the school bush school dean mark welsh presented awards to dr kent portney in appreciation for his teaching research and service contributions and to staff members rebecca burgner and janeen wood for their service to and support of the bush school i am continually impressed with the dedication of the bush school faculty and staff and the caliber of work they do said dean welsh each and every member of this institution is vital to the ongoing success of the school dr domonic bearfield was recognized by the texas a&m association of former students for receiving the college distinguished achievement award the associations annual award is given to exceptional members of the faculty in each college in recognition of the recipients expertise and dedication to teaching students faculty member dr william west as well as staff members janeen wood and damon wallace were also honored for their years of service to the bush school wood and wallace have served for twenty and twenty-five years respectively while dr west has served texas a&m and the bush school for thirty-five years

one of the foundations of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university is the belief of its namesake that public service is a noble calling to that end an education in public service requires not only a strong academic foundation but also real-world experience hands-on work in the field a group of students from the bush school have the opportunity to blend study and practice by serving on volunteer boards with nonprofit organizations in the bryan-college station community the schools bush board fellows program places a student on the board of a local nonprofit organization as a non-voting member this service-driven program gives students the opportunity to work alongside community leaders in major local organizations gaining experience in public leadership and a better understanding of how nonprofit organizations function the fellows see the impact their service has on the community and how important board members are to an effective operation as younger members of a board they also bring fresh ideas that may not have been considered in the past this program provides unparalleled access to how nonprofits really work said dr will brown director of the bush schools nonprofit program students become active participants on their respective boards by serving on committees engaging in discussions and providing advice to the board and executives they are able to bring a unique perspective to the organization and gain practical insight from firsthand involvement fellows serve two-year terms on the boards of local organizations including the boys and girls club of the brazos valley habitat for humanity and the bryan/college station chamber of commerce second-year bush school student joellen reece served as a bush board fellow with the united way last year and was since given the opportunity to assist in grant review within the organization serving the organization as a bush school fellow broadened my knowledge of nonprofits by adding to what i have learned in the classroom and will be valuable in my future career endeavors said reece i really enjoy my role within the organization and i realize that this opportunity has reinforced my ambition to enter a career in public service she added all degree candidates at the bush school are eligible to apply for the bush board fellows program seventeen new fellows were accepted this fall and will serve for one year

aspiring public servants from across texas gathered at the public service institute an event hosted by the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university on november 4-5 the annual event brings a select group of undergraduate students to the bush school to learn what it takes to pursue a graduate education in public service throughout the weekend-long event institute participants joined sessions on leadership development careers in public service and the graduate school application process presented by bush school staff and students bush school professors justin bullock and jim olson engaged the students in discussions related to public policy and management and international affairs the public service institute provides students considering careers in public service an opportunity to explore its many avenues said dr frank ashley senior associate dean for academic affairs this event provides insight into graduate school for the participants who believe in the power of public service thirty-two students from six texas a&m university system schools as well as seven other texas public and private institutions were selected to attend the weekend-long event hosted in college station applicants are selected on the basis of their leadership skills academic success and commitment to entering a field in public or international affairs

on monday november 14 2016 the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy in coordination with the george bush presidential library foundation hosted a discussion on the changing role of presidential spouses at this years conocophillips white house lecture the program included a presentation on the influence of presidential spouses by author lauren wright and a panel with former chief of staff to first lady laura bush anita mcbride; speechwriter and communications director for first lady hillary clinton lissa muscatine; and former abc anchor ann compton who moderated the panel discussion the night began with an introduction by david jones ceo of the george bush presidential library foundation mr jones pointed out various dignitaries in the room ranging from ohio speaker of the house cliff rosenberger to the recognized sailors of the year from the uss george hw bush most importantly in attendance were president and mrs bush for whom everyone stood applauding on their entrance after mr jones completed his introduction dr wright took the podium to provide some remarks and background from her recently published book on behalf of the president: presidential spouses and white house communications strategy today the book was based on her dissertation at georgetown university on the influence of first ladies on public opinion dr wright described how the role of presidential spouses has grown over the years she pointed out that their approval polling tends to be higher than that of the president and for the most part much higher than that of the vice-presidentmaking the first lady a powerful asset to white house communication strategies and on the campaign trail another characteristic that dr wright emphasized was the increasing number of policy initiatives supported by the spouses and how those initiatives typically align with and support the policies of the president whether it is mrs bushs push to increase childhood literacy in support of president bushs legislative agenda on no child left behind or mrs obamas lets move campaign in conjunction with president obamas support of the affordable care act spouses pick initiatives that support and expand the ideas of the presidents at the conclusion of dr wrights remarks dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute introduced the rest of the panelists and anita mcbride lissa muscatine and ann compton joined dr wright on stage for a discussion on the role of spouses in the white house among the topics they discussed were what the american people expected from a presidential spouse ms mcbride commented on the need to draw on their ability to be relatable and allow people to draw on their authenticity ms muscatine pointed out that once in office first ladies are under the microscope and knowing how to deal with that type of pressure and coverage is key for a successful presidential spouse another question moderated by ms compton looked to the historical context of the presidential spouses and asked the panelists for the defining moment when the first ladies gained prominence in the policy-making agenda of the white house while there was differing discussion on when it began all of the panelists pointed to the importance of first lady rosalynn carter and her role in creating a permanent staff dedicated to the agenda of the presidents spouse after the panel concluded ms compton had a surprise presentation for the audience highlighting the experiences of first lady barbara bush the slide show concluded with the words she always was at the presidents side she had his back and she had ours the bush school was honored to host an event dedicated to understanding the position that mrs bush held with such dignity and pride

dr ellie heng qu joined the bush school as an assistant professor in the master of public service and administration (mpsa) program in the fall of 2016 qu holds a phd in philanthropic studies from the indiana university lilly family school of philanthropy where she received a multidisciplinary education on philanthropy nonprofit organizations and voluntary action dr qu brings a unique background to the bush schools nonprofit management program dr qus primary research interests are nonprofit finance and economics the areas that have practical implications for capacity building and resource development of nonprofit organizations more specifically at the organizational level she studies how nonprofit organizations can best manage their revenue streams nonprofit organizations receive revenue from various sources such as private donations program service revenue government funding investment income and so on qu said given the available revenue streams how should a nonprofit manager choose an optimal revenue combination so as to provide an expected level of charitable goods/services while minimizing the financial risk at the individual level dr qu studies peoples motivations for charitable giving using laboratory experiments in particular she examines how individuals charitable giving behavior may be influenced by the interactions between their motivations and decision-making contexts in addition dr qu is working on two other projects including nonprofit financial reporting and accountability and the effects of pro-social behavior on peoples wellbeing dr qu enjoys teaching because it allows her to share with students her knowledge of the broader topic of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy it is a topic i am passionate about also the bush school students overall are serious learners she said they come in with clear career objectives and positive attitudes toward learning making teaching in general an enjoyable and rewarding activity she said dr qu is teaching foundations of the nonprofit sector a newly required course for all first-year students the course focuses on the role of the nonprofit sector in american society as well as the relationships between government and the nonprofit sector dr qu believes the course is necessary for the education of all bush school students not just those studying nonprofit management government is not the only party thats providing public goods and services qu said nonprofit organizations and individuals like you and me also contribute time and money to public goods and services often to those minority demands unmet by a majority government the nonprofit sector not only partners with government in service delivery but also provides a venue for the expression of diverse ideas which underlies a democratic political system therefore whether our students are going to work for the public or nonprofit sector it is important for them to form a critical view about the role and value of the nonprofit sector in our society during the spring semester dr qu will teach nonprofit management in international settings and philanthropy and fundraising in nonprofits when asked what attracted her to come to the bush school dr qu emphasized the intellectually stimulating and supportive environment it is motivating to work in a place surrounded by productive intellectuals with diverse research ideas and educational backgrounds qu said as a promising scholar qu has received the science of philanthropy initiative phd grant award an initiative led by the university of chicago the university of wisconsin-madison and the john templeton foundation she has also received a number of other awards from the association for research on nonprofit organizations and voluntary action (arnova) including the emerging scholars award the diversity scholars and leaders award and a doctoral fellowship qu holds an ma and ba in political science from sun yat-sen university in china

as an invited speaker istpp research scientist and assistant director xinsheng liu participated in the international symposium on governance innovation: theory and practice peking university and columbia university organized the symposium which was held in beijing october 19-21 2016 dr liu presented his research on bureaucracy and policy making he was also commentator for the panel chinese and global perspectives on governance innovation

former florida governor jeb bush will join the faculty of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university as an executive professor and john d white 70 distinguished professor of practice he will teach a concentrated course in january on the role of gubernatorial leadership and its impact on government at all levels announced bush school dean mark welsh governor bush will teach the elective course during a 10-day period jan 6-16 which is prior to the formal start of the universitys spring semester but 65 bush school students have already signed up for it welsh noted the course will give bush school students a firsthand account of the roles and responsibilities of the state executive from the governor of a diverse and increasingly populated state governor bush is also expected to review contemporary research on the nations governors and their policies and provide insights from other governors and institutional actors such as state legislators executive branch administrators and gubernatorial staffers dean welsh said he is proud to welcome governor bush and the insight into policy and governance he will provide governor bush is a dedicated and accomplished public servant who will provide our studentsfuture leaders in public lifewith a vivid perspective of the challenges facing state officials said welsh we are very pleased to offer a course of this nature and look forward to governor bushs arrival on campus welsh said bush school professor dr blease graham will serve as co-instructor for the course a successful entrepreneur and businessman in texas and florida gov bush served as the first two-term republican governor of florida from 1999 through 2007 during his eight years as governor bush pushed an ambitious everglades conservation plan supported caps for medical malpractice litigation launched a medicaid privatization pilot program and instituted reforms to the state education system including issuance of vouchers and promotion of school choice

master of public service and administration students from the bush school traveled to the fbi office in houston to begin work on a capstone project the team briefed their concept of research and then conducted a question and answer session with intelligence analysts and special agents as part of their joint project with the bureau the teams research question is: what model can identify open source data that can help forecast the threat actors of the future in pursuit of answers to the question the students have divided into three teams: one to study population shifts (demographics); one to study industry (port of houston and oil and gas); and one to study technology (virtual currency and cryptography) through their research the team will provide data to the fbi office to determine the possible effects changes in the areas population industry and technology are likely to have over the next five years

istpp welcomes dr gabriel eckstein as a research fellow dr eckstein is a professor of law at the texas a&m university school of law and serves as a faculty member of the texas a&m water management and hydrological science graduate faculty as well as the texas a&m energy institute he researches water natural resources and environmental law and policy issues at the local national and international levels dr eckstein also directs the international water law project the istpp fellows program recognizes individuals who have made or are committed to making significant contributions to the development of the institute and to its mission aims and objectives participation as an istpp fellow is by invitation from the institutes director meet our other fellows by visiting our fellows webpage

a recently established program in the department of international affairs at the george bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university which focuses on the links between the status of women and peace and security has received a $100 000 from the compton foundation dr valerie hudson professor and george h w bush chair at the bush school directs the program on women peace and security (wps) hudson says that this program is aimed at providing bush school students with several opportunities to develop a better understanding of the relationship among issues related to women peace and security in addition to an expanded curriculum the program plans to engage with us policymakers on issues of women and national security as well as hold a follow-up conference to the successful womens insecurity and national security conference why women matter held last year the compton foundation provided the initial funding for the wps and this latest grant reinforces the foundations commitment to fostering positive and sustainable models of change and to providing financial support to projects which offer those models this new program complements the foundations efforts to support programs that explore connections among issues related to peace and security hudson noted that the wps has a three-fold mission: teaching research and outreach the concentration in wps in the department of international affairs allows bush school students and other interested tamu graduate students to take courses and develop an emphasis in gender analysis as it relates to international affairs the programs research arm the womanstats program currently funded by the minerval initiative of the us department of defense is studying the linkages among marriage patterns marriage market obstruction and national security this specific project is part of a larger research agenda investigating the relationship between the security situation and status of women and the security of the states in which they live this new grant will provide the financial support we need to expand the programs curriculum offerings reach out to policy makers engage important networks explore new research opportunities and develop policy briefs hudson said noting that wps researchers regularly contribute to key policy journals in addition program researchers have served as consultants to the united nations the us intelligence community the senate foreign relations committee the house foreign relations committee and other policymaking bodies

dean mark welsh has named dr frank b ashley iii as senior associate dean for academic affairs at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university in this position ashley will be the second ranking administrator at the school and will oversee graduate education and research activities as well as strategic planning faculty affairs student affairs program development diversity assessment communications and external relations student services and extended education programsin an announcement tuesday morning dean welsh spoke of dr ashleys dedication to furthering higher education and how his previous experiences and insight will benefit the bush school dr ashleys leadership within the texas a&m system and his connections through the college board will help the bush school further expand its linkages with peer institutions welsh said [he] brings a lifetime of experience in higher education leadership to the bush school welsh said we are delighted to welcome him and his family back to texas a&m in this new role ashley earned his bachelors degree from louisiana college and a masters and doctorate from the university of alabama his previous academic appointments include faculty positions as well as director of admissions and interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at texas a&m university-commerce and associate dean for undergraduate studies and teacher education at texas a&m universitys college of education ashley also held several positions in the texas a&m university system including vice chancellor of academic affairs and vice chancellor of recruitment and diversity most recently dr ashley served as senior vice president of membership and higher education engagement at the college board thirty years ago i arrived at texas a&m full of excitement and anticipation after completing my program today i am just as excited as that day because i am honored to come back to aggieland and serve in the administration of the nationally ranked bush school of government and public service said ashley a former college board trustee ashley also has served on boards and committees for numerous other organizations including the north american society for sport management the commerce independent school district and the development education subcommittee of the p–16 education council of the texas education agency he was also a member of both the journal of applied research in coaching and athletics and the international journal of sports managements editorial boards ashleys writing has been published in various academic journals and textbooks

at the bush school of government and public service public service is considered a noble calling for adriana perez its where she found her calling everything that ive learned at the bush school has helped me define the population i want to work for the issues that are important and how i can serve the affected populations perez is a second-year student at the bush school studying nonprofit management with an interest in international humanitarian organizations she graduated from texas a&m in 2015 with a degree in sociology and decided to continue her education here when she found out about the bush schools nonprofit management program its easy to like working in nonprofits because im able to do a lot of hands -on work said perez ive always wanted to make a change and working with kids… i saw that change perez spent her summer in new york city where she worked as an intern with the international rescue committee (irc) an organization devoted to offering aid and support to populations facing humanitarian crises in her role as a program management intern perez worked with the organizations refugee youth summer academy (rysa) a six-week educational program transitioning refugee youth between the ages of five and twenty-one into the new york city public school system most of these kids faced some kind of political or ethnic persecution that drove [the families] out of the country said perez many have come to the united states separated from their families as unaccompanied minors and others have joined their families after years of separation many of the children perez worked with were refugees or asylum seekers from west africa and latin america who had experienced gaps in their education or had never gone to school rysa sought to mend that gap and teach english to 118 students enrolled in the programwe always maintained a positive atmosphere for the students said perez however there were times when students would get frustrated especially when learning a new language but the staff was very supportive at the educational level and the social-emotional level the experience of entering a new country at a young age is especially familiar to perez who grew up in the houston suburb of katy but was born in venezuela and came to the united states when she was three like many of the children she worked with over the summer perez also learned english after coming to the us i was not only assisting hispanic students with learning english i also served as an interpreter for hispanic families at the irc said perez who is bilingual this experience proved to me that these families are coming to the us to find opportunity which is also what i did while at the irc perez utilized the program evaluation and management skills as well as the knowledge of nonprofit organizations that she gained during her first year at the bush school she also benefited from her experience at the boys and girls club of the brazos valley where she spent two years interning and volunteering and later working as a youth development and program service coordinator while the age groups were similar perez noted the large differences between each group of children i knew how to work with youth because of boys and girls club said perez who managed volunteers and oversaw mentorship programming for kids between the ages of six and eighteen but this is the most difficult transition rysa students would face so understanding them socially and emotionally was a different experience i was lucky to watch them flourish and reach their full potential at rysa now in her final year at the bush school perez has taken on a graduate assistant position with nonprofit program director dr will brown she is also involved with the bush school ambassador program the schools public service organization and she coordinated the bush school relay for life team all of these experiences have helped shape what public service means to perezbeing a public servant means being a person of integrity being adaptable and compassionate and being a leader said perez public service encompasses serving those in our community and around the world who need it most when she graduates in may perez would like to continue working with the refugee population in the education department of an international humanitarian organization she loved her experience in new york city and would like to return she says her irc experience as well as her bush school education was a pivotal force in forming her career goals the program is incredible and i owe my professors for what i have learned said perez the bush school has given me the skills and knowledge to be an effective leader and employee in the workplace

the minority enrollment at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university reached a record-setting 24 percent this fall bush school faculty and students have increased efforts in diversity and inclusion planning and recruitment in recent years through a range of programs and initiatives as a result minority enrollment has continue to increase each year facilitating an environment for a diverse and inclusive student body and faculty is of the utmost importance to the bush school said bush school dean mark welsh the school has seen great improvements in diversity enrollment as we have grown in recent years and members of the bush school diversity committee are continually working to advance and assure our programs are as diverse and inclusive as possible international students also contribute to the diverse student body at the bush school where 13 percent of students hail from twenty-three different countries the bush school is also hosting fifteen fulbright scholars each bringing a global perspective and wealth of experience in foreign trade human resources public relations and business development to the schools international and public affairs programs the school has also sponsored a number of student initiatives and public events addressing issues of diversity and inclusion in the greater society the bush school diversity and inclusion committee formed as a part of the schools student government association works specifically to create a campus that respects nurtures and celebrates diversity and inclusion through education awareness and exposure to different cultures belief systems and values the committee hosted a brown bag lunch talk on monday october 11 which featured a discussion of diversity with bush school dean mark welshthe event began with remarks by dean welsh who discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion in an organizations perspective and how the inclusion of diverse backgrounds shaped his career in the us air force the remarks were followed by a q&a session among welsh; committee co-chair and second-year bush school student dianey leal; and the audience of staff faculty and students the discussion was focused on defining what the future of diversity and inclusion will look like within the bush school dean welsh can only do so much; the committee can only do so much said leal who is studying public management and education policy at the bush school it takes generations to keep the movement going to view dean welshs remarks on the importance of diversity and inclusion visit https://wwwyoutubecom/watchv=8i608tnsss4 most recently the school hosted a three-part lecture series entitled race and policing in america addressing how law enforcement interacts with the public it serves with a focus on minority communities the series has brought together academics community leaders and local law enforcement to speak on a range of topics the final event in the series will be held on november 14th and will feature dr charles epp of the university of kansas who will discuss how police stops define race and citizenship fulltime in-residence bush school enrollment is just under 350 graduate students students are registered in the master of public service and administration or master of international affairs degree programs nearly 75 percent of graduates pursue careers in public service

water energy and food (wef) are three interconnected pillars of daily life energy cannot be produced without using water water cannot be provided without using energy and food cannot be grown without energy and water a team of researchers from the institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university have completed a first of its kind water-energy-food nexus public opinion survey revealing concerns about water energy and food issues; policy preferences; and personal behavioral changes involving water and energy water energy and food are highly integrated systemsmovement or changes in one segment changes the others said dr arnold vedlitz bush school professor and former director of istpp public policy makers are going to have to make decisions about the allocation of resources in a manner that recognizes and preserves this system in order to help decision makers in making these decisions and for the public to accept these decisions the public needs to know and understand whats going on the project was led by kent portney a bush school professor of public policy and an expert in environmental policy and sustainability and vedlitz a professor of public policy and an expert in science and technology policy and natural resources management the scientific survey was conducted in august and collected responses from a representative sample at the national level state level in texas and local level in houston the researchers found that the recognition of risks related to the wef nexus and the desire to have the government and the private sector work together to find solutions was similar across many demographic and political groups in the us and texaswith one exception while party and ideology do not seem to drive the concern for water or energy or support for certain policies there is a strong partisan divide when climate change gets introduced said vedlitz when considering how climate change gets discussed and the roadblocks to enacting policy the climate change issue creates it will be important to frame the discussion about the wef nexus so that the divide that surrounds climate change is not passed on to the nexus issue the survey was funded in part by the texas a&m area 41 institute an initiative created by texas a&m system chancellor john sharp and intended to provide solutions to major issues faced by the state of texas the initiative provides research drawn from across various colleges and institutes within the texas a&m system that can be used by decision makers trying to tackle issues related to transportation water energy and healthcare researchers from istpp who are working on this project in addition to vedlitz and portney include research scientist and assistant director xingsheng liu; postdoctoral research associate bryce hannibal; senior research associate carol goldsmith; and peyton mcgee who is a graduate of the bush school two other faculty members at the school dr ann bowman and dr justin bullock along with dr manuel teodoro a faculty member with the texas a&m department of political science are also members of the research team

istpp senior research fellow james stoutenborough and director arnold vedlitz have published their exploration of how levels of understanding of specific energy technologies may produce different assessments of the risks of those technologies using results from a large national random survey of us adults conducted by istpp the researchers examine the knowledge/information deficit model which holds that as the public become more informed about scientific issues they are more likely to evaluate these issues in a manner that is congruent with the scientific perspective stoutenborough and vedlitz previously revealed that there is an important difference between objective assessed measures of knowledge and self-perceived measures of knowledge and the applicability of the deficit model in the climate change domain this manuscript extends this research to determine whether the same pattern holds in the energy domain specifically the researchers examine if the two measures of knowledge predict risk perceptions that are congruent with the scientific position furthermore to examine the flexibility of these measures the same knowledge measures were used to predict three risk perceptions that were in different directions and concerned different energy technologies – nuclear energy (low risk according to science) coal pollutants (high risk) and bird and bat mortality caused by wind turbines (inconclusive risk) consistent with their previous study they find that an objective assessed measure of knowledge can predict risk perceptions in a manner consistent with the knowledge/information deficit model (suggesting that it is a better measure of scientific knowledge) and that self-perceived knowledge consistently over-estimates risk they conclude that people who possess a higher level of objective assessed knowledge about energy production assess risk at levels more closely aligned with the way experts in the field rate the risks of the different energy technologies stoutenborough james w and arnold vedlitz 2016 the role of scientific knowledge in the publics perceptions of energy technology risks energy policy 96: 206–216 doi: 101016/jenpol201605031

xinsheng liu istpp assistant director and research scientist arnold vedlitz professor and istpp distinguished research scholar along with institute research fellow james stoutenborough have published their research paper bureaucratic expertise overconfidence and policy choice in governance this study is the first to theoretically and empirically examine whether experienced bureaucrats are prone to overconfidence in estimating their domain-specific expertise and if so how overconfidence may affect their policy choices using data collected from agency officials across 50 states this study shows that more experienced bureaucrats indeed tend to be more overconfident it also demonstrates that overconfidence independently of individual sociodemographic characteristics attitudinal factors and political orientations enhances bureaucrats risk-taking policy choice governance is currently ranked 2/47 in public administration and 5/163 in political science by isi journal citation reports liu xinsheng james stoutenborough and arnold vedlitz bureaucratic expertise overconfidence and policy choice governance (2016)

the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the bush school of government and public service was honored to award mr david weekley founder and chairman of david weekley homes with the 2016 mclane leadership in business award on october 5th the award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions in the area of business public service or community service at the national level dean mark welsh gave the welcoming remarks pointing out various state and campus dignitaries in attendance and followed by the introduction of mr weekley by dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute dr taylor outlined a few of the many honors and recognitions that mr weekely and his company have received over the years including customer and employee satisfaction recognitions and builder of the year after the introduction mr weekley took the stage to give a speech titled success v significance making a reference to the bob bufords pivotal book halftime: moving from success to significance mr weekley noted that often times in life the most successful people get caught in the trap of money and moving up the ladder so much that they forget that they also need to be significant mr weekleys argument to which the rest of the speech was dedicated was to become significant and not just successful; it was important to give back and start looking at what he terms the others mr weekley claimed that changing to a focus on his employee team his customers and his community not only helped people in a positive way but also improved his business he was able to see his home building grow in ways he never could have imagined all while instituting profit-sharing models and an 8 percent match on retirement in his company for the betterment of his employees at the conclusion of his remarks dr lori taylor joined mr weekley on stage for a conversation expanding on some of the key features of his talk prompted by a question over what non-profit students should focus on at the bush school mr weekley responded noting that self-knowledge recognition of our strengths and use of those strengths in the most effective ways would benefit a non-profit more than anything a devoted philanthropist mr weekly and his wife bonnie made the conscious decision to start donating not only half of their profits from david weekley homes but also half of their time mr weekley noted that being able to donate his time and efforts into helping non-profits is worth more than any financial services he can offer turning that dollar donation into four to conclude the event mr drayton mclane jr namesake of the mclane leadership in business award joined mr weekley on stage with dean mark welsh and dr lori taylor mr mclane added his own commendations of mr weekley and presented the award capping off the evening by outlining the success and significance of an outstanding leader in the business community dr lori taylor and david weekley l-r: dean mark welsh drayton mclane jr dr lori taylor and david weekley

among the many advantages of having a major public affairs graduate program at texas a&m university is the opportunity for faculty from the bush school of government and public service to interact with their colleagues across the texas a&m system in research efforts we have an amazing range of expertise within the texas a&m university system said dr arnold vedlitz bush school professor and bob bullock chair in government and public policy being able to call on our colleagues in the system universities and agencies enables us to address public policy issues from a wider perspective collaborative research projects are commonplace at the bush school where faculty and state agency researchers bring their unique expertise and connections with funding agencies to university-wide projects these efforts can provide research opportunities for students in the bush school and provide a cross-disciplinary perspective on a broad range of issues issues like health economic development and infrastructure require different perspectives from experts in several fields if we are to find workable and practical solutions vedlitz said although the bush school is only twenty years old our faculty quickly adopted the collaborative research model that has been so successful at texas a&m and the a&m system over the years the bush schools research institutesthe institute for science technology and public policy (istpp); the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy; and the scowcroft institute for of international affairsoften reach out to faculty in various academic disciplines as research partners bush school dean mark welsh noted that the schools faculty brings a unique perspective to the complex issues being studied our faculty represents a unique blend of academic expertise and extensive practical experience in public service said welsh collaboration between bush school faculty and others with specialized knowledge in the texas a&m system ensures that solutions proposed through research can be effectively implemented as policies istpp currently has a number of projects that include faculty and agency researchers the institutes work investigating the connections among transportation planning and transportation policy and their relationship with climate change mitigation and adaptation has been a collaborative effort with researchers from the texas a&m transportation institute other research has included expertise from the texas a&m colleges of liberal arts agriculture and life sciences veterinary medicine and medicine the bush schools research efforts fit perfectly with the land grant mission of texas a&m said vedlitz for more than 100 years texas a&m has been addressing problems faced by the state nation and the world in collaborative research efforts we just had to prove that we could enhance those efforts and i believe we have done that for more information about collaborative research at the bush school see our latest video: https://wwwyoutubecom/watchv=c1jr7why-ui

the bush school of government and public service is proud to welcome a record-setting 176 in-residence students to their international affairs and public service and administration programs this fall the class of 2018 represents 113 universities 18 countries and over 65 different concentrations total bush school enrollment is just under 360 students with the addition of an online executive master of public service and administration which will commence its inaugural class with 23 students an additional 340 students are enrolled in the schools graduate certificate programs in international affairs homeland security and nonprofit management the incoming class of students brings wealth of knowledge and experience to their respective programs eight students are attending the bush school as fulbright scholars 11 students with military experience and an additional 12 students were former peace corps or americorps members twelve students have advanced degrees ranging from a masters of international law to a phd in ethnomusicology as enrollment grows bush school programs continue to climb the ranks of top public affairs graduate programs us news and world report ranks the bush school in the top 13 percent of programs offered by public universities with the public management program ranking 12th and the nonprofit program ranking 8th the international affairs program was ranked 5th among public universities by foreign policy magazine in 2015 the bush school is also considered a best value in the nation among public affairs programs as 100 percent of incoming bush school students received scholarships and qualified for in-state tuition the bush school has the honor of being housed on the campus of texas a&m university which was recently named a top best value school by us news and world report and is a tier-one research institution the bush school also welcomes a new dean along with a new class of students dean mark welsh expressed his enthusiasm toward growing enrollment and increasing value in a bush school education the incoming class represents a set of intelligent and high-achieving men and women dedicated to a career in public service we are excited for these students to commence their graduate education here at the bush school and to support their learning and growth dean welsh said

istpp senior fellow bryan d jones (photo on right) professor of the department of government and j j jake pickle regents chair in congressional studies at the university of texas at austin delivered a keynote speech public policy and human nature in an increasingly complex world to the international public policy association conference in hong kong on june 10 2016 the conference is co-sponsored by the university of hong kong university of california and international public policy association istpp research scientist and assistant director xinsheng liu (photo on left) presented a research paper bureaucratic overconfidence and policy consequence co-authored with istpp director arnold vedlitz and istpp fellow james stoutenborough at the conference in hong kong on june 11 2016 in this project the researchers explore whether experienced bureaucrats are overconfident in their expertise and how this overconfidence might influence their policy choices they used data compiled from survey responses from local state and regional-national agency bureaucrats the data analyses demonstrate (a) the level of issue-specific expertise perceived by individual bureaucrats is positively associated with their work experience; (b) more experienced bureaucrats tend to be more overconfident in assessing their expertise; and (c) overconfidence independently of sociodemographic characteristics attitudinal factors and political ideology significantly correlates with bureaucrats risk-taking policy choices

when dave fujimoto gives a presentation it is like sitting in the situation room in the white house or the pentagon his strong presence and tone immediately commands the attention of an audience no matter the topic a second-year master of public service and administration (mpsa) student at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university fujimoto owes his expertise in public speaking and on a host of topics to his twenty-two years as an air force staff officer and aviator i like public speaking said fujimoto with confidence i didnt always like to do that but i got to the point in my career where i was very comfortable talking to senior people about information a graduate of the us air force academy fujimoto spent over two decades in military service primarily flying ac-130s and remotely piloted aircraft he participated in missions in the middle east and africa and served a tour at the pentagon retiring in 2015 wanting to continue his service in a civilian setting he decided to enroll in the bush schools mpsa program i felt the values as well as the academic and networking opportunities offered by texas a&m and the bush school would give me opportunities to find other ways to serve the citizens of the united states fujimoto said known among his classmates as fuji fujimoto quickly stepped into a leadership role at the bush school not only in his classes but also as chief of the bush school ambassadors a group that represents the school on the texas a&m campus and at conferences and speaker presentations hosted by the school or the george bush foundation im really proud of ambassadors because of the way they represent the school fujimoto said all bushies have a story to tell about why they chose the school and public service and i think being an ambassador provides a lot of opportunities to talk about the students who will be the next generation of public servants i really enjoy telling that story and seeing others tell the story the former air force aviator often shares his military experiences in the classroom emphasizing the importance of professionalism in a career he also offers guidance to his fellow students on their presentation skills both as a leader and as a supporter of his fellow students when you have gained knowledge and skill its really important to pass it on and share the expertise fujimoto said i was the beneficiary of some superb mentoring when i was in the military and i want to share the things i learnedaside from the academic knowledge gained at the school fujimoto has also learned the value of public service in non-military occupations being at the bush school has shown me many ways people can serve other than in uniform fujimoto said i now appreciate the value of public service whether in government a nonprofit organization or serving a cause or an issue fujimoto was able to utilize his renewed perspective on public service over the summer at the state capitol in austin as a fellow in the office of texas governor greg abbott given his lengthy professional career fujimoto was not required to fulfill the bush school internship requirement his drive to fully immerse himself in public service however led him to a summer in the state capitol working with the governors texas military preparedness commission (tmpc) the commission seeks to make texas the state of choice for military exercises and defense contracts and to encourage the expansion or relocation of defense-related industry in texas the time spent in austin greatly enhanced my knowledge of the executive branch of state government and its current and future priorities for the state of texas fujimoto said i was really pleased with my experience i gained a lot of insight and knowledge that was only possible working in the capitol the internship also meant three months in austin away from his wife and two children however as a man who has served twelve tours of duty fujimoto noted that being a graduate student has benefitted his family; and he relishes his new fulltime job now in his final year at the bush school fujimoto is already looking ahead to his next career move he is excited by the many opportunities afforded to him through the network he built at the bush school and the tmpc as well as during his military experience and he is committed to public service in his future the tradition of service at the bush school and texas a&m makes it incumbent on graduates to make a difference fujimoto said youre part of the legacy of president bush and the bush school and youre forever a representative of this institution

texas a&m university political scientist william roberts clark the charles puryear professor of liberal arts and head of the department of political science is among the researchers recognized by the british academy for the humanities and social sciences dr clark along with matt golder and sona n golder both associate professors of political science at penn state received the brian barry prize in political science for their study an exit voice and loyalty model of politics the study provides a game-theoretic model that captures the key elements common to most if not all political situations the model emphasizes the strategic interdependencies in the use of power and explains which actors have power and why they have it to highlight the commonalities that exist in the use of power across apparently disparate political phenomena the authors use their model to examine how economic development natural resources inequality and foreign aid affect the democratization process in partnership with cambridge university press and the british journal of political science (bjpols) the british academy awards an annual prize in honor of brian barry a distinguished fellow of the academy and founding editor of the journal brian barry was a distinguished moral and political philosopher whose work fruitfully combined analytic philosophy and political science political theory and social choice theory the prize is awarded annually for excellence in political science as displayed in an essay submitted for the prize that has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere the essay can address any topic in political science as covered by bjpols but essays in fields related to the work of brian barry are especially welcome on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

dr chiu is a professor in the department of veterinary integrative biosciences at texas a&m university his research expertise includes quantitative health risk assessment dose-response assessment and statistical modeling of environmental and biological systems dr chius current interests focus on developing computational and statistical methods to transform data into knowledge to inform policies protecting public health from the effects of environmental chemicals dr dunaway is an associate professor in the department of communication college of liberal arts at texas a&m university her research examines the relationship between the structural and contextual features of media outlets and news content dr dunaways current research examines the impact of the changing contemporary media environment and information technology across individuals groups and local communities and the implications of this for news attention engagement and political polarization the istpp fellows program recognizes individuals who have made or are committed to making significant contributions to the development of the institute and to its mission aims and objectives participation as an istpp fellow is by invitation from the institutes director meet our other fellows by visiting our website

the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy hosted its first conversation in public policy of the academic year on thursday september 15 2016 the event featured dr manuel sánchez gonzález deputy governor of the banco de mexico speaking on the topic of the changing structure of the mexican economy: mexico as a regional leader the evening began with welcoming remarks from dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute noting dr sanchezs extensive track record in mexican financial institutions and education at the university of chicago where he received his masters and doctorate in economics after dr taylors welcoming notes dr sánchez took the stage to deliver remarks over the changing culture of the mexican economy dr sánchez began his comments pointing out the complex relationship that the united states and mexico have highlighting the positive and negative effects certain american policy decisions have on the monetary and economic affairs of mexico he noted that the special relationship enjoyed by the united states lends to the sharing of ideas and technology to the betterment of both countries but in some cases this relationship can have negative effects on manufacturing labor and deterioration of certain markets dr sánchez also discussed key issues currently affecting the monetary value of the peso in relation to the us dollar and mexicos public debt to gdp ratio he concluded that a strong stance on inflation in mexico coupled with continued success in trade agreements and cutting certain inefficient public programs should strengthen the mexican economy upon the completion of dr sánchezs remarks dr raymond robertson bush school professor and holder of the helen and roy ryu chair in economics and government joined dr sánchez on stage for a discussion on the mexican economy while most of dr sánchezs speech was designated to solutions to current issues in the mexican financial market dr robertson spurred conversation over the recent reforms instituted by mexico dr sánchez elaborated more during this conversation about the steps that the mexican congress and president nieto took to help revitalize aspects of the mexican economy and keep a forward thinking mentality laws regarding telecommunications labor education competition and banking were all overhauled and in the past few years have started to be implemented resulting in an increase of services for mexican citizens with competitive options dr sánchez did note certain areas where implementation has been difficult but was fairly confident in the decisions of the mexican government to positively benefit the economy and growth for years to come in his final remarks to the audience and in particular the students dr sánchez endorsed the methods of the bush school of government for their focus on theory-based practicality and the continued approach of using these two pillars to guide their efforts once they had left the university dr raymond robertson and dr manuel sánchez gonzález dr lori taylor and dr manuel sánchez gonzález

by lesley henton texas a&m marketing & communications gen mark welsh has taken the reins as dean of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university after ambassador ryan crocker stepped down earlier this year welsh comes to texas a&m after retiring from four years as chief of staff of the united states air force his record of service to the nation also includes commander of us air forces in europe associate director of military support and military affairs for the cia and commandant of cadets at the us air force academy just to name a few he graduated from the air force academy in 1976 q: you were born in san antonio; how does it feel to be back in texas a: i love everything about texas just like every other texan does the way we love the state and nation respect the flag respect each other so getting back here is a huge thrillq: what first inspired you to join the air force a: my dad inspired me he was a pilot in the air force for 35 years and an aggie class of 46 he was part of the greatest generation part of creating the country we have today i joined because i was in love with airplanes but i stayed in because i fell in love with the people every day in uniform was a privilege for me it was routinely inspirational and always humbling the people i served beside made me proud every single day im a big believer in the idea that institutional pride is critical to success and no institution demonstrates pride better than texas a&mgeneral mark a welsh iii dean of the bush school of government & public service q: what was your best day as air force chief of staff a: i had a thousand best days but if i had to choose one it would be the first day i was sworn in on a bible that every chief of staff has sworn on since the day the air force was started my wife was holding the bible that combination of faith family and a feeling of overwhelming gratitude and humility set the tone for me in that job q: what were the challenges of leading at such high level a: some days it was scary and intimidating because you dont want to let your people down there were some days that were horrible; there was human death and suffering – the sacrifices people make for their country but to see what people are willing to endure for their country the belief they share in its greatness and potential its inspiring and truly humbling q: what drew you to accept the job as dean of the bush schoola: im a big believer in the idea that institutional pride is critical to success and no institution demonstrates pride better than texas a&m i see it when im greeted with a howdy aggies just value tradition in so many ways i remember when i was in high school the first time i came to a football game here with my dad i was struck by the corps march-in and when the flag came by and everyone took their hats off and put their hands on their hearts i first came to a bonfire when i was in the ninth grade just me and my dad ive been to muster in five or six different countries and many midnight yells theyre remarkable traditions carried on by remarkable people the aggie network is amazing; ive met grads of the bush school all over the world and they are quick to tell you where they came from the aggies ive had the privilege of meeting are talented engaged and active and they truly want to make a difference q: tell us about your family a: although im not an aggie i consider myself one by association – in addition to my dad five of my six siblings all my children and many of my nieces and nephews are graduates of texas a&m my dad passed away in 2008 but my mom still lives in austin and she is a saint she travelled all over the world hauling seven kids shes the matriarch of our family and terrifyingly intelligent a trait she passed on to all her female children! she also loves this university im extremely proud of my own children my son mark iv was the corps commander here in 2000-01 and is a proud graduate of mays business school he won the brown foundation-earl rudder memorial outstanding student award in 2001 and is now in the private equity business my son john was an air force pilot then returned to texas a&m to earn his md and is now an er physician matthew graduated from the college of liberal arts was an all-american rugby player here and is now an infantry officer in the marine corps elizabeth graduated from the business honors program at mays works as the director of marketing for an it firm and travels the world and my wife betty is texas a&ms most enthusiastic supporter! shes also a remarkable woman she is very involved in programs that benefit military families and excited to be back in texas reconnecting with family we have an amazing relationship because she needs me for nothing and i need her for everything! q: what are your hopes for the future of the bush school a: the bush school is young as far as colleges go but has in that short time been remarkably successful as we look to the future we need to examine where weve been and where were headed were doing that review now the results will allow us to properly prioritize funding and resources and keep us on our planned track while also ensuring we adjust to how the world is changing around us we need to hear everyones voice as we do this review from students to faculty and staff i have lots of opinions but none are well enough informed at this point – its the curse of the new guy so ill rely on our great team to fill me in q: where can we expect to see your aggie spirit on display a: ill be looking to meet the newest reveille i cant wait to join the 12th man at kyle field and many other sporting venues and while i dont look forward to one being necessary if theres another silver taps ill be there

students in the master of international affairs program at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university recently had a unique opportunity to visit germany and meet with high-ranking german foreign policy makers and academics the fourteen-day program was led by dr gabriela marin thornton and included stops in berlin and dresden this trip gave bush school students a great opportunity to interact with high-ranking german policy makers and scholars to gain a better understanding of german foreign policy security and the current refugee crisis said dr thornton the wide-ranging agenda included visits to the german ministry of defense where the students met with the head of the policy department and former vice president of germanys federal intelligence service bundesnachrichtendienst dr gezá von geyr topics for discussion included germanys new security policies and its new white paper on defense while in berlin the students also met with thomas volk coordinator for islam and the dialogue between religions at konrad-adenauer-stiftung (kas) a prestigious think-tank volk briefed the group on the role of islam in germany and later discussed with students how the current migrant and refugee crisis is impacting europe a visit to the german chancellery included a meeting with german state secretary and coordinator of intelligence agencies klaus dieter fritsche who led a discussion centered on cooperation among various intelligence agencies and its impact on combating terrorism us ambassador john b emerson welcomed the students to the us embassy and spoke with them about topics including natos role in the new security environment the group was also invited to the berlin parliament where they had lunch and met with the two vice presidents of the parliament: andreas gram (cdu) and ms schillhaneck (the green party) in dresden students took a guided tour and met with geert mackenroth mdl the saxonian parliaments coordinator for refugees and migrants other trip highlights included participating in a roundtable discussion on transatlantic security at the free university berlin meeting with patrick lobis of the german representation of the european union taking a battle of berlin tour led by bush school international affairs professor christopher layne and visiting a refugee camp the program was an opportunity for the students to learn first-hand about german and european issues said thornton it was a remarkable educational experience for the students and truly broadened their perspective on european politics and security i am grateful to dr hildegard boucsein a member of texas a&m international board for her valuable help with this trip

a new semester-long lecture series at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university will focus on how law enforcement deals with the public it serves particularly minority communities the goal say lecture organizers is to begin a community-wide dialogue focusing on a range of topics including tensions between communities of color and law enforcement; race and community engagement efforts by local police departments; research on criminal justice and policing; and immigration enforcement at the local level bush school professor domonic a bearfield coordinator of the series says he hopes to begin a conversation among researchers law enforcement and citizens in the age of social media and instant communication incidents between law enforcement and citizens across the nation quickly garner national attention bearfield said given the climate that surrounds these incidents and the resulting publicity it seems to be a good time to look for ways to ameliorate the concerns of both sides and also seek input from experts in the field he added bearfield also said that organizers hope to extend the events reach through the sponsorship of several student organizations including the black graduate student organization and the bush school diversity and inclusion committee the first lecture on sept 21 will be given by khalilah brown-dean of quinnipiac university and is titled beyond ferguson: rethinking community and social justice in the united states it will be held at the annenberg presidential conference center the second event co-hosted by the mosbacher institute for trade economic and public policy will also be held on oct 12 in the annenberg presidential conference center with brian williams university of georgia moderating a panel discussion of police chiefs from bryan college station and texas a&m and the final lecture will be nov 14 in the george bush librarys orientation theater given by dr charles epp from the university of kansas each event will begin at 5:30 pm preceded by a reception at 5 pm the events are open to the public

bryce hannibal istpp post-doctoral research associate presented several papers at the american sociological association annual conference held in seattle wa august 20-23 2016 both papers are based on istpps national representative public opinion survey on the water-energy-food nexus (may 2015) the first paper cognitive awareness of the water-energy-food nexus in the us: public attitudes among the american people co-authored with istpp researchers kent portney carol goldsmith peyton mcgee xinsheng liu and arnold vedlitz explores the publics understanding of the connections between water and energy water and food and food and energy the researchers analyze data from the survey to investigate the extent to which awareness of the nexus is associated with willingness to support public policies designed to intervene in the nexus they find that levels of awareness vary considerably across individuals and across the nexus nodes and those awareness levels are highly related to a number of policy options the results suggest that awareness of the water-energy-food nexus may represent conditions necessary for supporting policy responses and that building awareness of nexus issues could represent an important pathway for increasing support for policy interventions the second paper political ideology and the invisible environment: a multi-level analysis of biophysical impacts on individual behaviors and attitudes about water written with arnold vedlitz examines the extent to which local environmental incidents and hazards influence individuals attitudes and behaviors about water the authors combine nexus survey data with data about local environmental conditions to examine county-level contextual factors their results show that very few biophysical indicators influence individual attitudes and behaviors about water which are instead influenced by sociodemographic and political characteristics of which political ideology is a prominent influencing factor their results suggest that it is unlikely that natural hazards and incidents with water will lead americans to shift current behaviors and attitudes more generally towards investments in new water conservation practices and policy options

dr portney and his co-author dr jeffrey berry have analyzed the influence of local tea parties efforts to block sustainability initiatives by cities to ascertain the impact of such tea party actions the researchers relied on several sources of data one data set came from previous research by portney in which he compiled comprehensive information on the level and range of sustainability programs for 50 us cities resulting in a sustainability score and in these same cities the heads of local tea parties were interviewed whenever possible questions asked included their interactions with different categories of policy makers and their preferred methods of advocacy based on their responses local tea parties were engaging in modest efforts to influence local policy the researchers then examined the correlation of local team party activities with the citys sustainability score their findings indicate that the tea party has not had a significant dampening effect on city policymaking in support of sustainability berry jeffrey m and kent e portney 2017 the tea party versus agenda 21: local groups and sustainability policies in us cities environmental politics 26(1): 118–137

professor ann bowman received the daniel elazar distinguished scholar award from the federalism and intergovernmental relations section of the american political science association (apsa) on september 2 2016 the award which recognizes distinguished scholarly contributions to the study of federalism and intergovernmental relations was presented during the apsa annual meeting in philadelphia pennsylvania elazar was a leading political scientist and specialist in the study of federalism he founded and directed the temple university center for the study of federalism a prominent federalism research institute bowman holds the hazel davis and robert kennedy endowed chair in government and public service at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university im honored to receive this award recognizing my contributions to research on intergovernmental relations especially since it comes from my colleagues in the apsa said bowman dr bowman came to the bush school in 2008 from the university of south carolina where she was the james f and maude b byrnes professor of government she specializes in state and local politics and management; public policy especially the substantive areas of environment economic development and land use; and intergovernmental relations she is a fellow of the national academy of public administration and is immediate past-president of the southern political science association

texas a&m students from the bush school visited ben milam elementary school to support the read by 3rd program twenty-five years after president george hw bush signed the national literacy act students at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university continue his commitment to improving national literacy and encouraging lifelong learning graduate students involved with the bush schools public service organization (pso) spend the first saturday of every month volunteering their time with a local organization read by 3rd the program is based in bryan texas and aims to help parents develop the skills and resources needed to help their children improve reading skills bush school students support the program by planning activities that get students excited about learning and literacy while also serving as role models to the young children volunteering with [read by 3rd] is a great opportunity to interact with both students and parents of the community bush school master of public service and administration student and program volunteer becky calahan said this program serves the higher goal of improving literacy and provides a sense of community for those involved read by 3rd was founded in 2013 by daniel hernandez a native of bryan former city councilman and long-time community volunteer hernandez recognized a community need to inspire parental involvement in programs that help children and developed the program in an effort to encourage parents to help their children learn to read at grade level by the third grade and thus become readers for life read by 3rd is unique in that the focus is on the parentsthe most significant teacher in a childs life mr hernandez is now working to expand the program to neighboring college station isd pso is a bush school organization offering opportunities for students to interact with the community where they live and attend school while also exemplifying the service-oriented philosophy of president bush that public service is a noble calling throughout the school year pso members volunteer with various community organizations including habitat for humanity relay for life and texas a&m universitys campus-wide volunteer campaign the big event involvement in read by 3rd provides bush school student volunteers with a unique perspective on an issue so important to the bush family president and mrs bush were and continue to be strong advocates for improving national literacy said calahan being able to support their cause in our community is just one of the ways bush school students seek to continue their legacy

the office of the provost and executive vice president of texas a&m university has announced the appointment of dr leonard bright as assistant provost in the office of graduate and professional studies (ogaps) dr bright is currently assistant dean of graduate education and an associate professor at the bush school his new appointment is effective september 1 dr bright will now divide his time between his faculty appointment at the bush school and his new responsibilities at ogaps said dr karen butler-purry associate provost for graduate and professional studies dr butler-purry noted that dr bright brings extensive teaching research and administrative experience to ogaps and will aid its mission of providing quality support services to all texas a&m graduate students faculty and staff dr bright received his ba in psychology with honors from the university of south florida his masters in public administration from the university of idaho and his phd in public administration and policy from the hatfield school of government at portland state university prior to joining the bush school faculty dr bright was the assistant and acting director of the masters of public administration program at the university of south alabama president of the metropolitan louisville chapter of the american society for public administration and president of the southeastern conference for public administration his research emphasis is on public sector human resource management and he is considered to be a top national expert on motivation for public service dr bright said hes honored to be moving to his new position this is a great opportunity to contribute to the advancement of graduate education in the office of graduate and professional studies at the university level i have appreciated the opportunity to serve the bush school as assistant dean and i thank my colleagues for their support i truly enjoyed working closely with them on initiatives to advance the bush school i know that i could not have accomplished anything good without their help and support he added im pleased that dr bright has been selected for this important position said bush school dean mark welsh he will strengthen the already strong ties between the bush school and the universitys outstanding graduate education programs and i know his experience at the school will be beneficial in his new position he added

istpp researchers bryce hannibal xinsheng liu and arnold vedlitz extend our understanding of factors that influence an individuals environmental concern they do so by incorporating local environmental conditions into the traditional models that rely only on personal characteristics as explanatory variables of environmental concern the research team tests their model of environmental concern using data from istpps 2013 national public climate change survey combined with government agency data about local environmental conditions associated with each survey respondents zip code they find that individual level characteristics behave similarly to what has been found in other studies the results for local environmental conditions are mixed – local environmental incidents and air pollution are positively associated with individual concern while industrial wastes are not the researchers offer insight into why some predictors do not relate to concern which is important to policymakers and future environmental policy recommendations bryce hannibal xinsheng liu and arnold vedlitz 2016 personal characteristics local environmental conditions and individual environmental concern: a multilevel analysis environmental sociology doi: 101080/2325104220161197355

kenneth j meier presented the keynote address on public administration in the us and europe at the annual meeting of the european group for public administration in utrecht the netherlands august 26 2016 egpa is a regional group of the international institute of administrative sciences whose purpose is to strengthen contacts and exchanges among european specialists in public administration both scholars and practitioners on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

on august 10 faculty and staff at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university gathered at the annenberg presidential conference center to recognize dean ryan crocker and longtime faculty member and administrator arnold vedlitz the event was an opportunity for faculty and staff to show their appreciation to dean crocker and dr vedlitz for their significant accomplishments and leadership at the bush school crocker will continue as executive professor at the bush school and will also hold an appointment in the office of the provost at texas a&m vedlitz is leaving his current administrative posts as executive associate dean and as director of the institute for science technology and public policy he will continue to hold the bob bullock chair in government and public policy crocker has served as dean since 2010 taking a leave of absence from 2011 to 2013 to serve as us ambassador to afghanistan during his time as dean the bush school has grown tremendously with record enrollment the past several years and several impressive additions to the bush school faculty a highly respected diplomat he has as served as a us ambassador six times including afghanistan (2011-2013) iraq (2007-2009) pakistan (2004-2007) syria (1998-2001) kuwait (1994-1997) and lebanon (1990-1993) since joining the foreign service in 1971 he also has had assignments in iran qatar iraq and egypt as well as in washington from may to august 2003 he was in baghdad as the first director of governance for the coalition provisional authority and was deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs from august 2001 to may 2003 a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom he is a member of the council on foreign relations the american academy of diplomacy and the association of american ambassadors dr vedlitz was one of the first members of the bush school faculty and has served as director of the institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) since its founding in 2000 during vedlitz tenure as director istpp has been awarded more than $16 million in externally funded research grants from twenty-two different sponsors including the national science foundation the national institutes of health the us department of homeland security the texas department of transportation and the national oceanic and atmospheric administration among many others since coming to texas a&m in 1973 vedlitz has served in a number of administrative positions including associate dean of the college of liberal arts associate provost for external affairs and executive associate dean of the bush school a position he resumed in 2013 he received his ba and ma degrees in government from louisiana state university and his phd in political science from the university of houston

how europe responds to the growing migrant crisis has serious implications for the future stability of the continent warns a prominent international relations authority in a paper published by the scowcroft institute of international affairs a unit of the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university ann-sofie dahl a swedish associate professor of international relations and an adjunct fellow at the center for strategic and international studies in washington dc cites the brexit vote in the united kingdom as a clear indication that europeans are highly alarmed about the influx of migrants especially after the recent terrorist attacks in brussels paris and istanbul still some european countries are taking different approaches to the situation dahl notes pointing to sweden and it scandinavian neighbor denmark dahl in her paper a continent in chaos: the security implications of the european migrant crisis says that while sweden has taken a more welcoming stance thereby encouraging the flood of newcomers on eu ground other countries like denmark are skeptical about their ability to absorb such a huge influx of asylum seekers from vastly different cultural and religious backgrounds in all other ways she asserts these two neighboring scandinavian countries come across to the outside world as almost identical but thus represent opposite positions with regard to the migration and refugee issue in short she asks how did europe end up in this chaos and what will be the implications on security for sweden denmark and the rest of europe dahl has been a resident of copenhagen denmark since 2003 she has previously held research positions at the centre for military studies (copenhagen) the swedish institute for international affairs and the swedish national defense college (stockholm) georgetown university princeton university and other research institutions dahl was a visiting fellow at the nato defense college in rome in 2012 she is also the founder of the swedish atlantic council and a former vice president of the atlantic treaty association (ata) on nov 2 2015 dahl visited the bush school to meet with faculty and students and hold a q&a session focused on her expertise in northern europe the baltics and nato interaction with russia and the current refugee crisis in europe the full text of the article can be found at bushtamuedu/scowcroft/papers/

in this study dr vedlitz and his co-authors dr stoutenborough and dr robinson use data from istpps 2012 national energy policy survey to ascertain whether the words used to name a process used to extract natural gas from underground rock formations influences a persons attitudes and policy preferences toward this particular technique the researchers use a survey experiment to compare two popular framing languages for this extraction process with half of the respondents receiving questions that refer to the technique as hydraulic fracturing and the other half as fracking they analyzed the effects of framing for the two treatments to compare responses to questions concerning opinions and attitudes about the extraction technique their results illustrate that concerns that the term fracking is politicized and pejorative are overstated while familiarity with the technique influences levels of support and reactions to specific wording there is no general framing effect for the use of one wording over the other james w stoutenborough scott e robinson and arnold vedlitz 2016 is ‘fracking a new dirty word the influence of word choices on public views toward natural gas attitudes energy research & social science 17: 52–58 https://dxdoiorg/101016/jerss201604005

istpp research scientist and assistant director xinsheng liu was invited to give a talk on his research a quantitative account of news media and presidential perceptions of china: 1979-present to the faculty and graduate students at the china foreign affairs university on june 11 2016 liu used quantitative data based on content analysis to show how and why the news media and presidential perceptions of china (including total attention dimensional attention and image) have evolved over time liu also discussed the policy implications of these changes

with financial support from the deans office the department of international affairs the department of public service and administration and the mosbacher and scowcroft institutes bush school students are expanding their classroom experience by serving as interns and immersing themselves in foreign languages this summer the school provided more than $215 000 to support these programs and provide stipends and scholarships to assist students with the various expenses of their required internships or language immersions students gained these valuable internships and language immersions not only from opportunities provided through career services but also from the robust network of bush alumni working at all levels of the public private and nonprofit sectors students interned and/or studied languages in twenty-one countries in europe the middle east asia and latin and south america and also across the united states the languages most often selected were arabic spanish mandarin chinese and russian with students choosing a language that relates to their area of study internationally students served in internships with the us department of state us european command and the general assembly of wales among many others domestically bush school students could be found within a variety of organizations including the us house of representatives us department of energy us drug enforcement administration the central intelligence agency and the federal bureau of investigation state and local government internships included those at the texas office of the governor texas general land office and the city of nashville nonprofit agencies were also internship sites including world vision boys and girls club of america ted and greater texas foundation students faculty and staff who travelled across the country or around the globe for learning opportunities also took part in the #bushgoesglobal social media initiative by posting pictures of themselves at their various locations on facebook twitter and instagram using the hashtag #bushgoesglobal individuals were encouraged to display a poster with the hashtag provided by the school when taking pictures at the various locations whether participating in an internship in texas; a language immersion program in italy; a work project in washington dc; or a conference in germany students faculty staff and alumni used the hashtag to showcase their public service experiences across the country and around the world

dr kent e portney professor at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university has been appointed director of the institute for science technology and public policy at the bush school a leading expert on environmental policy urban sustainability and policy analysis portney will oversee the institutes efforts to examine public policy issues and communicate research-based knowledge to the public and decision makers he will begin his duties as director on september 1 2016 and will succeed dr arnold vedlitz who is stepping down as director after serving in that capacity since the institutes founding in 2000 i am thrilled to assume the directorship of istpp although upholding the standards set by professor vedlitz is a daunting task said portney with an impressive track record of accomplishment professor vedlitz has built the capacity of the institute for faculty and students to engage in and collaborate on serious science and technology policy research i hope to be able to build and expand on this capacity in the years to come while promoting research on public support for policy options water-energy-food nexus policies transboundary water policy and management urban resiliency and other areas the institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) is a nonpartisan interdisciplinary public policy research institute the institute examines pressing and complex issues related to the framing and communication of science and technology information to help inform difficult public policy questions istpp communicates its research-based findings to the public and decision makers and publishes them in scholarly journals in the past five years istpp has partnered with approximately 200 researchers in the united states and in other countries on research proposals and proposal development (incubator activities) and has funded numerous projects and scholarly efforts this includes working and partnering with researchers in twenty-nine different departments at texas a&m university ten of the tamu colleges and twelve tamu centers and institutes istpp also partners with researchers and scholars at thirty other us universities and with researchers around the world including twenty-one international organizations in austria china germany france denmark the netherlands and other countries portney joined the bush school in 2014 after a distinguished career on the tufts university faculty which he had been a member of since 1979 in addition to serving as chair of the department of political science and director of the graduate program in public policy and citizen participation he also served as director of the water and research program at the center for international environment and resource policy at tufts fletcher school of law and diplomacy he received his phd in political science from florida state university his masters from the university of connecticut and his bachelors from rutgers university where his studies focused on public administration and public policy he has authored or co-authored nine books on such topics as economic and environmental development citizen participation and teaching critical reasoning in the social sciences; and he has written numerous journal articles on urban sustainability urban politics and the local nonprofit sector his book the rebirth of urban democracy earned him two awards from the american political science association he has been awarded numerous grants from the ford foundation the national science foundation the spencer foundation and the polaroid foundation he is frequently invited to conduct media interviews and present at conferences and symposiums and has taught graduate courses on the political behavior of young people public opinion and survey research water policy and economics the politics of environmental policy in the us and the politics of sustainable cities portney will succeed dr arnold vedlitz who has served as director of istpp for the past sixteen years during vedlitz tenure as director istpp has been awarded more than $16 million in externally funded research grants from twenty-two different sponsors including the national science foundation the national institutes of health the us department of homeland security the texas department of transportation and the national oceanic and atmospheric administration among many others in addition to his time as director of istpp vedlitz also served as director of the center for public leadership studies a precursor to istpp he has served in a number of positions at texas a&m university since 1973 including associate dean of the college of liberal arts associate provost for external affairs and executive associate dean of the bush school a position he resumed in 2013 he received his ba and ma degrees in government from louisiana state university and his phd in political science from the university of houston vedlitz is holder of the bob bullock chair in government and public policy a chair he has held since 2000 he joined the bush school in 1996 one of the first professors to join the faculty when the bush school was founded he is a co-author and co-editor of a highly cited book from mit press dealing with natural resources management and decision making; author of an important book on public policy; and author of ninety peer-reviewed journal articles most published in top field/disciplinary journals or in top subject-matter journals it has been a tremendous honor to serve as director of istpp these past several years and i am excited to see the many ways kent will take the institute to new heights said vedlitz istpp does incredibly important work educating both policymakers and the general public about major policy issuesfrom climate change to the nexus of water energy and food i have tremendous gratitude to the many colleagues i have had the pleasure to work with over the years and know the milestones the institute has achieved would not have been possible without their hard work

with multiple years of teaching under his belt in the master of international affairs (mia) department at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university assistant professor william norris influence on the program has begun to spread he was initially attracted to the bush school because of its national reputation and the strength of its foreign policy and security studies programs norris especially liked the way the school matches rigorous scholarship with practical applications i believe academia has a responsibility to help improve society and the bush school is an excellent demonstration of that kind of thinking he said he also noted that he was impressed by the unique collegiality of the bush school and the wider texas a&m university communitysomething he says is not seen at many other institutions before coming to the bush school norris was a postdoctoral research associate at the woodrow wilson school for public and international affairs and a fellow in the princeton-harvard china and the world program a joint program created by the two universities to foster the study of china in the field of international relations norris earned his phd in the security studies program in the department of political science at massachusetts institute of technology where he specialized in the link between economics and security studies focusing on the role of economics in contemporary chinese grand strategy norris teaches courses in east asian security chinese domestic politics and chinese foreign policy he encourages students to take the class on domestic chinese politics before taking the class on foreign policy very few students come in with non-western studies knowledge students need to know the history and institutional legacy of china to understand how they impact current decision making norris says though he says it is a riskier approach norris prefers teaching his classes in a discussion-based seminar setting often utilizing the socratic method this style offers less professorial control than a traditional lecture method but norris feels the students can develop a better command of the material since they have a more interactive opportunity to grapple with it research shows that actively learning by asking about readings making connections between those readings and generating and challenging ideas is a more effective way to learn than via a traditional lecture approach norris said because of his background in international relations and security studies norriss research looks at the relationship between economics and wider foreign policy strategies in east asian countries in our field the relationship between economics and security studies is under-developed norris said there has been much research on the nature application and limitations of military power; but i believe the same level of attention needs to be given to the economic dimensions of national power he pointed out that the field still lacks an overarching theory of the relationship between economics and security the major work written on this subject is thirty years old and posed the question of whether nations can use economics to achieve non-economic ends norris research takes that question a step further by addressing exactly how nations can do this even though economic tools are difficult to use when states do use them they can be very powerful in terms of grand strategy norris said when asked about hobbies norris says that spending time with his eight-month old son is his main hobby; but in his rare spare time he enjoys cooking fishing and collecting old books too he also enjoys wine and traveling with his wife to lesser-known wine regions such as the pacific northwest my perfect day would be reading an excellent book in a boat and fishing in a quiet natural and pristine environment these are some of lifes simple pleasures that i am looking forward to sharing with my son in the years ahead he added

the first class of students enrolled in the bush schools newly launched executive master of public service and administration program (empsa) recently began classes designed for individuals working in full-time professional careers the new executive program delivers high-quality and high-impact coursework and helps students develop in-depth advanced skills in public service leadership; critical investigative and evaluative proficiencies; and the decision-making expertise essential for public and private sector careers the first class includes twenty-six students from a variety of backgrounds including three active duty members of the us military; nine veterans; and others from occupations such as local law enforcement nonprofit executive leadership city planners cia and fbi officers and attorneys among others the average professional experience of the incoming class is eighteen years with a range of six years all the way to forty-one years of experience in the first class of students fifteen are pursuing the homeland security track eight are pursing the nonprofit management track and three are pursuing the public management tracki am very impressed with our twenty-six incoming students said dr danny davis coordinator of the empsa program and director of the graduate certificate in homeland security program a wide variety of professions is represented in the inaugural class such diversity in student work experience promises to enrich the learning environment of our executive program the 39 credit hour graduate non-thesis degree program is offered online with a total of two required weeks in residence at texas a&m university in college station applicants must have at least five years of professional experience preferably in one of the three curricular track areas of homeland security nonprofit management or public management in addition to a common set of 21 credit hours that provide foundational knowledge in management leadership policy analysis and research methods students complete 18 credit hours in either the homeland security nonprofit management or public management track their coursework will also include a required capstone project in which students work collaboratively on a public service and administration project in conjunction with a government agency private firm or nonprofit organization we are thrilled to offer this exciting online masters program to professionals and executives who want to earn a graduate degree but are constrained by time and location said lisa brown director of the bush school office of extended education the interactive online format truly opens worlds of opportunity for those who are committed to excellence in public service in homeland security nonprofit management and public management

research co-authored by dr raymond robertson professor at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university was cited as support for a recently approved measure in india aimed at boosting the apparel industry in an op-ed piece written by arvind subramanian indias chief economic advisor robertsons research was offered as evidence that expanding exports within the apparel sector could lead to a significant increase in jobs and a boost to the economy the new measure approved by prime minister narendra modi is designed to help create ten million jobs over the next three years the apparel industry holds great potential for economic development for several reasons including an emphasis on employing women said robertson the new indian measures have the potential to improve the lives of millions of women the research cited in the op-ed piece by subramanian was taken from a recent book co-authored by robertson stitches to riches published by the world bank in the book robertson and his co-authors argue that the apparel sector in south asia has not reached its full potential due to inefficiencies that affect its competitiveness the apparel sector already comprises approximately 40 percent of manufacturing employment and given that much of apparel production continues to be labor intensive the potential to create more and better jobs is immense robertson is a professor and the holder of the helen and roy ryu chair in economics and government in the department of international affairs at the bush school widely published in the field of labor economics and international economics robertson currently chairs the us department of labors national advisory committee for labor provisions of the us free trade agreements and is a member of the center for global developments advisory board robertson is also a research fellow at the institute for the study of labor in bonn germany

this past spring dr stephen hadley well known for his role as national security advisor under president george w bush spoke on the importance of the national security advisor at a conference honoring one of the most esteemed men to have held the position brent scowcroft in his speech hadley said that scowcroft defined the important role of national security advisor with the scowcroft model: be an honest broker running a fair transparent and inclusive process for bringing issues to the president; maintain the confidence of your national security colleagues; keep a low public profile operating largely off stage; and give your advice privately to the president this approach best serves the president and enhances the prospects for a sound foreign policy in the inaugural issue of a series prepared by the scowcroft institute of international affairs the text of hadleys speech provides a deeper understanding of the role of the national security advisor from a man who held the position during president george w bushs second term with intimate details of hadleys time in the bush 43 administration and recommendations for future national security advisors based on the tenure of brent scowcroft readers gain a better understanding of one of the more consequential members of the presidents staff lieutenant general brent scowcroft usaf (ret) is the only person to serve twice as national security advisor having served under presidents gerald ford and george h w bush he also served as military assistant to president nixon and as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs to presidents ford and nixon he currently serves as president of the scowcroft group a premiere international business advisory firm in addition to his service on the presidents general advisory committee on arms control the presidents commission on strategic forces the presidents blue ribbon commission on defense management and the presidents special review board hadley served for four years as national security advisor from 2005 to 2009 in that capacity he was the principal white house foreign policy advisor to president george w bush directed the national security council staff and ran the interagency national security policy development and execution process from 2001 to 2005 mr hadley was the assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor serving under national security advisor condoleezza rice in addition to covering the full range of national security issues mr hadley had special responsibilities in several areas including a us/russia political dialogue the israeli disengagement from gaza and strategic relations with india to read the paper please visit bushtamuedu/scowcroft/papers/hadley/

james olson senior lecturer at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university was featured in the premiere episode of a new cnn series declassified: untold stories of american spies which aired this past sunday june 19 before coming to the bush school to teach olson spent more than twenty-five years in the directorate of operations of the cia mostly overseas in clandestine operations olson was interviewed for the premier episode of declassified because of his intimate knowledge of a cia operation that involved the first female cia officer assigned to an operation in the soviet union in the episode olson speaks on camera about handling a covert operation in which cia case officer martha peterson served as a contact for a soviet diplomat codenamed trigon who smuggled classified documents from the soviet foreign ministry olson was interviewed for the cnn program at the bush school; and several shots of the school in addition to scenes from around the bush center can be seen in the trailer for the upcoming series at the request of president george hw bush olson joined the faculty of the bush school in 1997 as a part of the cias officer-in-residence program during his distinguished career with the cia olson held a number of prominent positions including chief of counterintelligence at cia headquarters in langley virginia he served in a number of overseas assignments in various countries including the former soviet union austria and mexico after retiring from the cia he continued to teach at the bush school and became a permanent faculty member in 2000 declassified airs sundays at 9 pm ct on cnn beginning this sunday view a trailer for the series at http://wwwcnncom/videos/tv/2016/06/02/declassified-trigon-episode-sneak-peekcnn

groundwater regulation has been a constant source of contention in texas due to confusion between what landowners believe is their property and what they actually own this confusion seriously diminishes the development of the groundwater market according to a recent study conducted by students at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university and summarized in a recent issue of the takeaway an online publication of the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy the bush school research team which included nine students from the master of public service and administration program was led by dr james griffin who holds the bob bullock chair in public policy and finance the researchers found that texans may believe they possess rights to water beneath their land; however when they have attempted to capitalize by selling or leasing the rights the regulatory capabilities of a patchwork of groundwater conservation districts (gcds) have often restricted or denied such transactions the ensuing confusion over groundwater ownership has led to capital not being used or not going to its best use the gcds in effect severely limit the value of texas groundwater and prevent a market economy from emerging and developing to its fullest potential while groundwater depletion is a concern in the ogallala aquifer in the texas panhandle and the hueco-mesilla aquifer in far west texas the researchers maintain that the concerns are unfounded for the aquifers in the more populous parts of the state dr griffin stated the students concluded that the apparent shortage of groundwater is not a physical shortage; rather it is a regulation-induced shortage local groundwater conservation districts act as balkanized states preferring to protect local resources the team concluded that changing groundwater regulation in texas would allow costs to reflect available supply and resources to move toward the best usage at a minimum they recommend that the texas legislature clarify groundwater property rights and prevent gcds from regulating groundwater based on its intended use or final destination the full text of the article can be found at http://bushtamuedu/mosbacher/takeaway/

ryan crocker dean of the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university will be the first recipient of the us naval academys bancroft award for exceptional leadership achievement the bancroft award named after george bancroft former secretary of the navy who founded the us naval academy in 1845 was created to recognize outstanding leaders who are not graduates of the us naval academy but through their personal sacrifice unremitting determination extraordinary vision and unwavering integrity have made substantial contributions to the united states crocker will receive the award in the fall of this year at a ceremony where he will speak to the more than 4 500 officers-in-training at the academy it is an extraordinary honor to receive this award from one of our countrys finest institutions said crocker the us naval academy develops americas leaders of tomorrow and i look forward to speaking to the courageous men and women who have made such a serious commitment to public service dean crocker retired from the foreign service in april 2009 after a career of over thirty-seven years but was recalled to active duty by president obama in 2011 to serve as us ambassador to afghanistan a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom he has served as us ambassador six times: afghanistan (2011-2012) iraq (2007-2009) pakistan (2004-2007) syria (1998-2001) kuwait (1994-1997) and lebanon (1990-1993) from may to august 2003 he was in baghdad as the first director of governance for the coalition provisional authority and was deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs from august 2001 to may 2003 since joining the foreign service in 1971 he also has had assignments in iran qatar iraq and egypt as well as washington he was assigned to the american embassy in beirut during the israeli invasion of lebanon in 1982 and the bombings of the embassy and the marine barracks in 1983 crocker has received numerous other awards for his public service including the presidential distinguished and meritorious service awards the secretary of states distinguished service award (2008 and 2012) the department of defense medal for distinguished civilian service (1997 and 2008) the distinguished public service award (2012) the award for valor and the american foreign service association rivkin award for creative dissent in may 2009 secretary of state hillary clinton announced the establishment of the ryan c crocker award for outstanding achievement in expeditionary diplomacy in july 2012 he was named an honorary marine the 75th civilian so honored in the 237 year history of the corps crocker began his service as dean of the bush school in 2010 taking a leave of absence between 2011 and 2013 in order to serve as us ambassador to afghanistan during his time as dean the bush school has grown tremendously with record enrollment during the past several years and several impressive additions to the bush school faculty

morten wendelbo a student who graduated this past may from the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university received the aggie spirit award from the texas a&m university faculty senate the award is given each year to a student who demonstrates outstanding courage and determination in the face of adversity while attending texas a&m receiving the aggie spirit award from the faculty at texas a&m is a tremendous honor said wendelbo without the kindness patience and advice of my professors i wouldnt have been able to complete my degree and contribute to my community at the same time three members of the bush school faculty nominated wendelbo for his contribution to the school citing his effort to create a new student organization focused on development studies his ability to bolster student spirit in the bush school his demonstrated leadership ability and his outstanding academic achievements among many other contributions wendelbos success both inside and outside of the classroom was all the more impressive considering the adversity he faced while enrolled at the bush school wendelbo was presented the award by the speaker of the faculty senate dr robert strawser during the final faculty senate meeting on may 9 the aggie spirit award consists of a framed certificate signed by the speaker of the faculty senate and the chair of the selection committee and a monetary award students from across the university are nominated by faculty members and the recipient of the aggie spirit award is chosen by a selection committee consisting of members of the faculty senate and representatives from the tamu student senate and the tamu student government association

viewing saudi arabia as unstable is a mistake says gregory gause professor of international affairs at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university with the kings young son possibly jumping ranks to become the countrys new leader talk of privatization and less oil dependence heavy reliance on foreign labor and renewed tensions with the us it may seem to some the country lacks stability but gause says a united ruling family a professional and elaborate security system and strong constituents throughout the country have sustained saudi rulers through much turmoil and the idea they are going away tomorrow is unlikely gause whose research field is middle east politics is the john h lindsey 44 chair and head of the international affairs department at the bush school and is often quoted in major media outlets regarding politics in saudi arabia perhaps an interesting side note a new connection between saudi arabia and texas a&m emerged when it was announced this month that a 1982 texas a&m graduate in mechanical engineering khalid al-falih was named saudi arabias minister of energy industry and mineral resources game of thrones grabbing headlines of late has been the sudden and unprecedented rise to power of one of the younger sons of king salman deputy crown prince mohammed bin salman referring to it as a game of thrones in a foreign affairs article gause says the shakeup has many in saudi arabia and beyond paying close attention hes young early 30s says gause and unlike many others of his generation he has never studied outside saudi arabia; he has been an aide to his father most of his life his father named him deputy crown prince made him the defense minister and put him in charge of the cabinet committee for planning economic policy in so doing gause notes the king has essentially skipped over several older members in the royal family who have more experience in government the king can do what he wants gause explains the senior members of the saudi family have for decades run the country through an informal committee placing so much power in the hands of one young prince goes against that practice one wonders if senior figures in the family will come together and say to the king ‘you have to include more of us in this process so what is it about this up-and-coming leader that would allow him to jump ranks he has the confidence of his father gause says thats the 10 most important reasons right there also he seems energetic and ambitious but he doesnt have much experiencea bold plan a sign of such ambition is the princes saudi vision 2030 a proposed economic plan for the country which says gause has a lot of goals but little sense of how they will be implemented he says the drop in crude oil prices has resulted in billions lost in saudi arabias net foreign assets and forced the monarchy to dip into reserves one proposal in vision 2030 is the partial privatization of saudi aramco the state-owned oil and gas company prince mohammeds plan would require the selling of less than 5 percent of the company which would result in the worlds largest government-owned investment fund the plan also proposes the country raise non-oil revenue by $100 billion by 2020 theyve been talking about less dependence on oil since the 1970s gause notes but as of yet we havent seen the steps put in place the economy is a ‘job-creating machine but most of the jobs have gone to foreign labor much of it from south asia because the labor is cheaper gause adds that many white-collar workers come to saudi arabia and make good money but for blue-collar workers construction and retail for example those jobs dont go to saudis because they want a higher wage than what many employers are willing to pay gause says low oil prices will cause the government to act one way or another the saudi budget requires a much higher oil price so they either have to tax people or reduce their spending the private sector will go through a shakeout or theres going to be a real crisis us-saudi relations: its complicated tensions between saudi arabia and the us have also been grabbing headlines and were evident in king salmans sending of a lower-level official in place of himself to greet president obama during a recent visit shared interests but differing values have made for strained relations over the years says gause noting saudi arabia is an authoritarian regime that doesnt allow women certain freedoms such as driving has no free press and no freedom of religion yet says gause it is critical for the us to maintain good relations although we produce more oil over here saudi arabia is still the largest oil exporter in the world; they can most easily increase or decrease their production he says adding the middle east is a mess and saudi arabia is one of the few places with a stable government you can deal with them on a government-to-government basis he acknowledges many americans are wary of the saudi government given it is a monarchy womens rights are curtailed and the culture is just so different not to mention the majority of the 9/11 hijackers were from saudi arabia gause says no link has ever been found to suggest the saudi government had anything to do with 9/11 and he says when it comes to fighting terrorism and finding stability in the middle east the us and saudi arabia are a united front al-qaeda attacked the saudis; isis wants to destroy them he notes since 9/11 the us and saudi arabia have developed a good working relationship in the fight against terrorism in sharing intelligence they are working with us to thwart the jihadist movement it would be hard for me to believe the saudi government is playing a double game

by lesley henton texas a&m marketing & communications the texas a&m university system board of regents approved the appointment of general mark a welsh iii as the new dean of the bush school of government and public service welsh currently the chief of staff of the us air force was appointed based on the recommendation of texas a&m president michael k young provost and executive vice president karan l watson as well as a search advisory committee welsh has announced an air force retirement date of july 1 and will assume his new position at the bush school on august 15 welsh will succeed current bush school dean ambassador ryan crocker i could not be more pleased with or thankful for todays announcement that general mark welsh will succeed ryan crocker as dean of the bush school says george hw bush 41st president of the united states and namesake of the bush school like ryan general welsh has demonstrated uncommon leadership and an unwavering commitment to service throughout his distinguished career i salute our wonderful partners at texas a&m for making the absolute best decision for our students and faculty general welsh has demonstrated uncommon leadership and an unwavering commitment to service throughout his distinguished career i salute our wonderful partners at texas a&m for making the absolute best decision for our students and facultygeorge hw bush 41st president of the united states and namesake of the bush school provost watson says i am pleased that general welsh will be bringing his vast experience and dedication in leading young people in service to our country through the military to the bush school of government and public service i wish to thank the members of the search advisory committee the faculty staff and students of the bush school and the outstanding candidates whom we were able to attract welsh became the 20th chief of staff of the air force in august 2012 serving as the senior uniformed air force officer responsible for the organization training and equipping of 664 000 active-duty guard reserve and civilian forces serving in the united states and overseas as a member of the joint chiefs of staff the general and other service chiefs function as military advisers to the secretary of defense national security council and the president his most recent previous post was commander of the us air forces in europe and commander of natos air command ramstein air base germany he also served as associate director of military affairs at the central intelligence agency and as commandant of the united states air force academy welsh who was born in san antonio says he and his wife betty are thrilled to return to texas betty and i are incredibly excited about coming home to texas honored to join president young and provost watsons team at this great university and privileged beyond belief to be associated with the remarkable faculty staff and students of the bush school it was a thrill to even be considered for this position; being selected is a wonderful challenge! im so thankful for the tremendous standard dean ryan crocker set during his tenure and excited about the future of the bush school and texas a&m university ive got a lot to learn…i cant wait to get started! welsh earned a bachelor of science degree from the us air force academy a master of science degree in computer resource management from webster university and graduated from the army command and general staff college the air war college and the national war college he was a fellow of seminar xxi at the massachusetts institute of technology a fellow of the national security studies program of syracuse university and johns hopkins university a fellow of ukrainian security studies at the john f kennedy school of government at harvard university a fellow of the pinnacle course of the national defense university and a graduate of the general manager program at the harvard business school he has received numerous awards and decorations including the defense distinguished service medal with oak leaf cluster distinguished service medal with oak leaf cluster defense superior service medal with oak leaf cluster the legion of merit with oak leaf cluster and the distinguished flying cross with oak leaf cluster provost watson expressed enormous gratitude on behalf of the university for crockers service as bush school dean i want to recognize ambassador ryan crocker for his almost six years of service as dean she notes his commitment to the college and to texas a&m university has been critical to advancing our mission of teaching research and service his leadership has helped increase the schools outstanding reputation of offering new approaches to public service for a complex and changing future

a new student award for excellence in science and technology policy studies has been established by dr arnold vedlitz executive associate dean of the bush school and director of the institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) funded with a $5 000 endowment from dr vedlitz the first of what will be an annual award was presented to graduating student peyton mcgee master of public service and administration who received a check for $150 and a plaque the vedlitz award for excellence in science and technology policy studies recognizes a bush school student who demonstrates particular excellence in science and technology studies and who has focused consistently on science and technologys relationship to policy problem identification and policy solution identification in classes capstone research projects and individual work the award is open to both international affairs and public service and administration students in the bush school vedlitz who also holds the bob bullock chair in government and public policy said he wanted to reinforce the important role of science and technology in identifying policy problems and finding solutionsover the years ive seen the growing importance of science and technology to a range of policy issues and that our students need to be trained and focused on understanding this core policy relationship vedlitz said the endowment to the bush school will fund the award in perpetuity vedlitz noted that mcgee had done outstanding work at istpp and will now be working as a research analyst at 2m research services a research program evaluation and technical assistance consulting firm working with dr vedlitz and dr portney has been an important part of my bush school education mcgee said im honored to be the first recipient of the vedlitz award and grateful to everyone at the bush school who provided such outstanding academic and research opportunities

on friday may 13 the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university graduated more than 150 students from the public service and administration department and the international affairs departmentthe largest graduating class in the schools history this marks the first year the school held two separate graduation celebrations with 71 public service and administration students receiving their certificate of completion in the morning and 85 international affairs students in the afternoon the previous day the school held a ceremony for individuals who received graduate certificates in nonprofit management homeland security and advanced international affairs more than 100 students completed twelve hours of coursework either online or on campus in order to receive their certificates the bush school continues to post impressive employment statistics with nearly 90 percent of graduates from the class of 2015 receiving a job within six months after graduation students graduating from the bush school enter a variety of exciting careers in public service including careers in state and local government nonprofit management the federal government and the private sector former students from the bush school can be found at various levels of the public nonprofit and private sectors including the brookings institution the texas house of representatives texas office of the governor the american red cross the us senate the us department of state the central intelligence agency the us department of homeland security the rand corporation and many others i am confident that in the years ahead these graduates will find the standards they have achieved in and out of the classroom will serve them well in all aspects of their career said dean ryan crocker they are prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world as leaders who can excel in whatever profession they choose

two capstone research teams from the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university have been recognized with the james w mcgrew research award for outstanding research from the central texas chapter of the american society for public administration the award recognizes two capstone research projectsteam-based applied research projects led by a faculty member and conducted on behalf of a client organization the winning capstone from the public service and administration department titled reorganizing groundwater regulations in texas was led by dr james griffin and focused on policy options for the regulation of groundwater in the state capstone team members included wayne beckermann ross brady amber capps braden kennedy peyton mcgee kayla northcutt mason parish abdullilah qadeer and shuting shan this project was outstanding in several respects including the extensive research policy analysis and policy relevance said dr mary hilderbrand chair of the public service and administration departments mcgrew award committee the students had to deal with complex technical issues and integrate technical economic and political analysis furthermore the research was innovative in its conclusions and in the options it presented the winning capstone from the international affairs department titled deterring attacks on us allies: the role of military exercises was led by dr jasen castillo and sought to determine when military exercises bolster deterrence and when they might undermine it capstone members included robert allison kerrie ford alaina garrett matthew grimm and nathaniel haight the outside evaluators of this capstone found the argument about the ways that military exercises could actually undermine deterrence to be presented in a clear and convincing fashion said dr gregory gause chair of the international affairs departments mcgrew award committee past historical cases were skillfully used to illustrate the more general argument and their presentation was compelling and included well-organized visual aids each of these teams was honored at a banquet in kyle texas on may 19th; and each will receive a prize of $1 000 from the school

ten years ago the texas legislature expanded the states franchise tax in an attempt to contribute more state funding to k-12 public education while simultaneously offering property tax relief in a new issue of the takeaway giving an ‘f to the franchise tax: the texas franchise tax fails to fund dr lori taylor an economist and director of the mosbacher institute along with erica cottingham and allison shea graduate research assistants and recent graduates of the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university explain how the texas franchise tax has failed taylor cottingham and shea say the tax has failed to generate the predicted revenues every year since its expansion in part because the tax allows businesses to choose how they will be taxed the authors also explain that distortions and short comings are inherent in the updated tax and make the argument that abolishing the franchise tax and replacing it with a fairer and more efficient and equitable tax such as a broader sales tax that includes consumer services would raise the necessary state revenues without the inefficiencies and inequities of the franchise tax giving an ‘f to the franchise tax: the texas franchise tax fails to fund is a publication of the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy the full text of the article can be found at http://bushtamuedu/mosbacher/takeaway/

during spring break when many students may have been enjoying their free time relaxing a group of students and their capstone advisor from the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university traveled to nepal in order to research the impacts of natural disasters and conflict in nepal the trip was part of a capstone research project under the guidance of dr ren mu associate professor at the bush school on behalf of the center on conflict and development at texas a & m university through the higher education solutions network of the united states agency for international development (usaid) the capstone project included two empirical studies: one focusing on the linkage between conflict history and the consequences of a recent earthquake and one on the impact of the earthquake on school enrollment and attendance the original inspiration for the project was the result of an internship of a bush school student morten wendelbo at the european institute for asian studies in brussels belgium as a result of the internship wendelbo led a multi-agency project researching the preparedness response to the 2015 earthquakes in nepal when he returned from that experience he approached dr mu about potentially researching more about the disaster response of nepal for a capstone research project nepal had an earthquake last year in april that registered 782 on the richter scale and more than 8 000 people died said mu not too long ago nepal had ten years of armed conflict in the country; so we wanted to examine empirically if the consequences of the earthquake and the conflict history of nepal are related also we were reading reports on the nepal earthquake and we realized a missing part was the impact on school-aged children we began to be concerned that if children dropped out of school because of the earthquake then the earthquake would have a very long impact on the development of the country the primary purpose of the trip to nepal was to gather data on school enrollment and attendance after the earthquake that struck nepal in 2015 the research team interviewed more than 300 children at twelve schools in six districts and by asking information on their siblings gained data on more than 800 children ages five to eighteen that had been affected by the 2015 earthquakes by combining this primary data with data from the 2011 nepal living standard survey the teams preliminary results show the earthquake had a negative impact on both school enrollment and attendance damage to schools is only one factor that could impact education attainment in nepal said brittany hardin tanguay a member of the capstone team other concerns the kids voiced included fear of going to school discomfort in temporary classrooms and the need to work at home on top of everything else a difficult journey of walking more than an hour each way which many children have to face is a likely deterrent to school attendance the trip was especially meaningful for one member of the capstone sanmita nepal who came to the bush school as an international student from nepal coming to the bush school i never realized i would get to do a capstone based on my own country said sanmita however i always knew i wanted to make a difference back home later this semester we will present the findings of our research to usaid which hopefully will raise awareness and result in better policy the research on the impact on school attendance and enrollment was only one part of the semester-long capstone research project prior to the trip to nepal the team also collected data in order to determine how past conflict experience impacted natural disaster outcomes by partnering with a faculty member from the college of geosciences at texas a&m university the team constructed a comprehensive measure of the level of the 2015 earthquake ground shaking after combining various data sources on the conflict history of nepal the social and economics characteristics of the seventy-five districts and the consequences of the earthquake within the country the team found that the higher the level of past conflict experienced by a district the greater the consequences of the earthquake in that district even though the conflict ended a decade ago in 2006 you still see the association between conflict experience and earthquake consequences this is more pronounced in places with a more severe earthquake said mu the results may suggest that past conflict experience may indicate weak natural disaster resilience down the road while in nepal the bush school team presented their initial findings on the relationship between conflicts and natural disasters to the usaid mission office in katmandu where the work was well received by usaid officials i hope this research will help international aid organizations think about how to use the information on conflict history said mu conflict history information may be used in areas that we may not have thought about before like as an indicator for weak disaster resilience the implication is that we should pay attention to conflict history; and when aid organizations do post-disaster work they should have that in mind in addition we hope people pay more attention to primary and secondary education in post-disaster areas while researching the impacts of past conflicts and earthquakes the research team came away with more than just data members of the team said they were affected by the buoyant spirits of the schoolchildren they encounteredit was very touching to see children there said mu their schools were destroyed and they are now in temporary tent huts but children are children they laugh they were curious they would make facesit was very cute i think all of us enjoyed the interactions with the children i think its the hope of the country like mu brittany tanguay also shared her belief that the childrens joy in the face of adversity signals the country may have better days ahead despite their circumstances the kids seem to be happyat every school we went to we were greeted by resounding cries of ‘namaste laughter and pleas to join in their fun and games said tanguay nepal is a small country that has suffered more than its share of struggles in the past few decades however if the spirit of its children is any indication there is hope in this time of hardship

it is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing on may 16 of our friend and colleague professor emeritus charles w chuck wiggins chuck is known throughout the discipline as a well-published scholar of legislative politics and interest groups he is remembered in this department as a good and caring teacher and a valued colleague and friend having received his bachelors degree in political science in 1959 from the university of iowa chuck went on to get his masters degree in 1963 and his doctoral degree in 1964 from washington university in st louis he then taught at iowa state university from 1964 to 1981 where he ascended through the ranks from assistant professor to associate and then full professor the rank he achieved in 1973 from 1979 through 1981 while still a professor at iowa state he entered into government service as an intergovernmental relations specialist with the epa in kansas city and then in 1981 he came to our department to head up our master of public administration program serving as director of that program for eight years during that stint and for a decade more chuck taught aggies at both the graduate and undergraduate levels he retired in 1999 and since then has held the title of professor emeritus of political science throughout his academic career chuck was an active researcher with primary interests in legislative politics and interest group politics in addition to three book-length projects – two on legislative politics in iowa and another on legislative politics in arizona – and eight research reports chuck also published 12 book chapters and 23 journal articles including several in top journals of the field but as much as chuck was a serious scholar he would undoubtedly say that he was – first and foremost –a teacher of politics always dedicated to making his courses interesting and relevant for his students chuck skillfully merged teaching with another of his passions – movies even developing an honors section of political science 207: state and local politics based in a discussion of the political relevance of selected movies and he loved to engage his students in discussion – often challenging them to think outside of their own little boxes to gain different perspectives – not necessarily to adopt them but at least to consider them but he was not just an interesting teacher he was also an interested teacher and not just interested in the subject matter but also interested in each and every individual student! chuck cared about his students and was interested in their lives outside the classroom as well as in the students knew he cared about them and they appreciated it chuck will be missed by his many friends in this department on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

the bush school student government association (sga) texas a&m university held a reception for ryan crocker dean of the bush school and dr arnold vedlitz executive associate dean to honor the two men for their service to the bush school crocker will be retiring as dean during the summer; and dr vedlitz will be retiring as associate dean and director of the institute for science technology and public policy taking a year-long sabbatical before returning to a faculty role during the reception the bush school sga awarded crocker and vedlitz with books that included a compilation of well wishes from current students faculty staff and alumni from the bush school both men also received plaques and bush school hats the bush school sga created earlier in the year as a fundraiser the size and diversity of those who attended the reception speaks volumes on how dean crocker and dr vedlitz have affected the entire bush school community said sean danielson bush school sga president they have continually shown the students the meaning of public service and we look forward to exemplifying their leadership once we graduate crocker began his service as dean in 2010 taking a leave of absence from 2011 to 2013 in order to serve as us ambassador to afghanistan under president obama a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom he has served as us ambassador six times: to afghanistan (2011-2012) iraq (2007-2009) pakistan (2004-2007) syria (1998-2001) kuwait (1994-1997) and lebanon (1990-1993) during his time as dean the bush school has grown tremendously with record enrollment the past several years and several impressive additions to the bush school faculty vedlitz has served as executive associate dean since 2013 having served in the same role from 1999 to 2004 in addition to his administrative duties he has also served as director of the institute for science technology and public policy since 2000 vedlitz has worked at texas a&m university for more than forty yearsas a professor researcher and later a member of the administrationand was a key member of the team that prepared the universitys bid for the bush presidential library and museum he has held several pivotal roles at the bush school since becoming one of the first official faculty members at the school when it opened in 1997

the legacy of brent scowcroft one of the most respected national security advisors in american history was recognized at a recent conference hosted by the scowcroft institute of international affairs at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university scholars diplomats and national figures including president and mrs george h w bush attended the conference which was held at the annenberg presidential conference center neighboring the bush school as i unfortunately cannot be with you i trust you will take the opportunity to tell the truth about me warts and all scowcroft wrote in a prepared statement in any case it would be awkward for me to be at a conference focused on my lifes work in the american foreign policy arena among the former ambassadors to speak at the event was ambassador ryan crocker dean of the bush school who served as us ambassador to six countries under four different us presidents the event also included remarks from dr andrew natsios director of the scowcroft institute and executive professor; dr stephen hadley former national security advisor under president george w bush; and ambassador tom pickering former undersecretary of state and ambassador to the united nations during the administration of president george hw bush following each speaker there was a twenty-minute question and answer session when attendees were able to ask experts a wide range of questions lieutenant general brent scowcroft usaf (ret) served as national security advisor to presidents gerald ford and george h w bush he also served as military assistant to president nixon and as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs under presidents ford and nixon he currently serves as president of the scowcroft group a premiere international business advisory firm in addition to his service on the presidents general advisory committee on arms control the presidents commission on strategic forces the presidents blue ribbon commission on defense management and the presidents special review board ryan crocker dean of the bush school told bryan/college stations the eagle that the conference will help attendees gain a better understanding of the enormous influence brent scowcroft has had on american foreign policy brent scowcrofts legacy is yet to be fully understood and written but our proceedings have contributed greatly to crystallizing and understanding the immensity of that legacy said crocker

the houston livestock show and rodeo was honored as a featured donor to the bush school at the inaugural donor and scholar celebration in april the houston livestock show and rodeo has generously supported the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university through gifts of $125 000 per year for the past two years the gifts will continue into the next academic school year for a total donation of $375 000 these annual gifts have allowed the school to offer scholarships to multiple students significantly lessening the financial burden many students face upon graduation by the fall of 2016 approximately twenty students will have received scholarships offered through the generosity of the houston livestock show and rodeo allowing the bush school to attract some of the best students from around the country bush school dean ryan crocker said the generosity of donors like the houston livestock show and rodeo is vital to the schools future the houston livestock show and rodeos scholarship support makes it possible for us to recruit outstanding students who might otherwise choose another graduate program crocker said were grateful for the confidence the show has shown in our programs our students and the value of principled leadership in public service which undergirds all we do the donor and scholar celebration was held in order to highlight some of the exciting initiatives taking place at the bush school and to demonstrate how donors investments are instrumental to student and faculty success donors were able to meet both current and former students from the bush school and hear first-hand how president bushs legacy of public service continues through the work of the school which celebrates its twentieth anniversary next year in addition to recognition of donors and faculty members two outstanding alumni were also honored at the eventmatt lamon 07 and nasir andisha 09 lamon currently serves as chief of staff in the texas house of representatives where he directs his representatives legislative and outreach efforts and manages office administration budget and staffing after graduating from the bush school in 2007 lamon worked in public sector consulting in washington dc where he assisted with projects for the us department of defense and the us department of homeland security among others only two years after graduating from the bush school of government and public service nasir andisha was named ambassador of the islamic republic of afghanistan to the commonwealth of australia new zealand and the republic of fiji continuing a promising career in international diplomacy prior to joining the bush school andisha already had a strong background in international affairs having served as chief of staff for the deputy foreign minister of the islamic republic of afghanistan taught international relations and principles of economics at the institute of diplomacy of the afghan ministry of foreign affairs and served as a field officer with the international red cross derek dictson ‘00 director of development at the bush school said the event provided a great opportunity for donors to see the impact of their commitment to the bush school and for recipients of scholarships provided through donations to express their gratitude to donors as a graduate of the bush school i know how grateful our students are for the financial support they receive and the high quality educational experience our school offers said dictson this support allows our students to graduate with minimal debt as they seek public service careers and it allows the bush school to recruit and retain outstanding educators and practitioners to join our faculty the donor and scholar celebration was a wonderful opportunity for bush school students and faculty to personally meet and thank the generous donors who support them and for our donors to see how their investments have made a tremendous impact at the bush school and around the world as we approach our twentieth anniversary

on thursday april 28 2016 the scowcroft institute of international affairs will host a book spotlight focused on the book chinese economic statecraft: commercial actors grand strategy and state control written by dr william j norris assistant professor at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university dr norris will be joined by dr ren mu associate professor at the bush school and dr hiroki takeuchi associate professor at southern methodist university for a panel discussion on the topic of chinese economic statecraft the event will begin at 6:00 pm at the george bush presidential library orientation theater in the book published by cornell university press norris introduces an innovative theory that pinpoints how states employ economic tools of national power to pursue their strategic objectives norris shows what chinese economic statecraft is how it works and why it is more or less effective the book has already received praise from scholars in us-china relations including praise from dr thomas g moore university of cincinnati author of china in the world market chinese economic statecraft is a timely compelling first-rate piece of scholarship said moore william j norris argument which will be widely read and discussed among political scientists economists and scholars of asian studies is presented in a way that will also engage policy-oriented observers and laypeople interested in the book primarily for its insights into the factors shaping chinas economic behavior dr william norris is currently an assistant professor of chinese foreign and security policy at the bush school where he teaches graduate-level courses in chinese domestic politics east asian security and chinese foreign policy he is also a nonresident associate with the nuclear policy program at the carnegie endowment for international peace in washington dc where his work examines the potential for a conventional us-china conflict to escalate to the nuclear realm dr norris has been a postdoctoral research associate at the woodrow wilson school for public and international affairs and a fellow in the princeton-harvard china and the world program a joint program created by the two universities to foster the study of chinas foreign relations he completed his doctoral work in the security studies program in the department of political science at the massachusetts institute of technology where he specialized in the confluence of economics and security focusing on the role of economics in contemporary chinese grand strategy the event is open to the public but reservations are recommended

in mid-april the bush school former student network hosted the first-ever reunion weekend for former students over the course of two days many alums from the growing network of the bush school returned to college station for a variety of events allowing former students to reconnect with each other while meeting current students as well the weekend began friday evening with a reception for current and former students as well as donors to the bush school at the annenberg conference center shortly after the reception an informal dinner took place at rudys bar-b-q where alums were able to enjoy dinner alongside current students the night rounded off with a mixer at two college station establishments the tap and mugwalls coffee shop saturday former students and their families were able to enjoy brunch at the corner bar and rooftop grill before heading over to the first-ever kickball game between current and former students as a current student it was great to see former students reconnect and reminisce about their time at the bush school said sean danielson a first-year student who helped with the weekends events former students were so eager to provide contacts and opportunities for the current students it was a huge first step in strengthening the former student network and we hope to make this an annual tradition chartered in july 2008 the bush school former students network (fsn) is the first college-affiliated constituent network of the association of former students the network provides current and former students the opportunity to directly influence the success and growth of the bush school through expansion of the aggie network enhancement of education opportunities for current students and continued professional development for former and current students the reunion weekend was a part of a renewed effort led by current fsn president matt lamon to raise the visibility of the former student network at the bush school and strengthen the ties among alums and between current and former students the best part about the reunion was watching people reconnect with classmates said lamon it was so rewarding to see people walk into an event and watch their faces light up as they entered a room full of long-lost friends it was a really joyful occasion