Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

Overview

The LBJ School offers a Master of Public Affairs program in public policy analysis and administration that prepares graduates to assume leadership positions in government, business, and non-profit organizations. In addition, 16 master's-level dual degree programs blend public affairs study with specialized professions or area studies and are structured so that students can earn the Master of Public Affairs degree and a second degree in less time than it would take to earn them separately." Program offerings include a traditional Master of Public Affairs program, a mid-career master's program, seventeen master's-level programs leading to dual degrees including: Advertising; Asian Studies; Business Administration; Communication Studies; Energy and Earth Resources; Engineering; Information Studies; Journalism; Latin American Studies; Law; Middle Eastern Studies; Public Health; Radio, Television, Film; Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Social Work; and Women's and Gender Studies. The school also offers a Ph. D. in Public Policy. Master's students have the option to specialize in one of seven areas: international affairs; natural resources and the environment; nonprofit and philanthropic studies; public leadership and management; social and economic policy; technology, innovation, and information policy; or urban and state affairs. As of 2011-2012, the LBJ School has graduated 3,508 master's degree students since its first inaugural class of 1972, as well as 56 Ph.D. students from 1992 to August 2013.

In 2008, the LBJ School also introduced a Master of Global Policy Studies that offers a multidisciplinary approach to the complex economic, political, technological, and social issues of the 21st century. Program offerings include specializations in the areas of security, law and diplomacy; international trade and finance; development; global governance and international law; energy, environment, and technology; regional international policy, and customized specializations. Program offerings include ten dual degree programs with the following programs: Asian Studies; Business; Energy and Earth Resources; Information Studies; Journalism; Latin American Studies; Law; Middle Eastern Studies; Public Health; and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

The school also offers a Portfolio Program in Arts and Cultural Management and Entrepreneurship and a Portfolio Program in Nonprofit Studies.

The school also sponsors a variety of non-degree programs for public affairs professionals.

In 2013, the LBJ School launched a new Executive Master in Public Leadership for mid-career professionals. The first of its kind in Texas, the EMPL at the LBJ School of Public Affairs is a blending of rigorous academic studies and practical learning.

Mission

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs is committed to improving the quality of public service in the United States and abroad at all levels of governance and civic engagement. The school's goals are to: Prepare students and professionals, from a variety of backgrounds, for leadership positions in public service by providing educational opportunities grounded in theory, ethics, analytical skills, and practice; Produce interdisciplinary research to advance our understanding of complex problems facing society and to seek creative solutions for addressing them; Promote effective public policy and management practice by maintaining a presence in scholarly and policy communities and in the popular media; and Foster civic engagement by providing a forum for reasoned discussion and debate on issues of public concern.

Centers

The LBJ School of Public Affairs also features five research centers dedicated to finding practical, innovative solutions to public problems and to deepening our understanding of the public policy process. Many of the School's centers also sponsor a range of other activities, including conferences, workshops, and publications.

Center for Politics and Governance

The Center for Politics and Governance is dedicated to producing leaders and ideas to improve the political process and governance through innovative teaching, research and programming combining academics and the real world.

Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources

The Ray Marshall Center is a university-based research center dedicated to strengthening education, workforce, and social policies and programs that affect current and future generations of American workers. The Center partners with a range of stakeholders to conduct timely, relevant research and to translate that research into effective policies and programs. The Center’s activities and services include: Program evaluation, including process and implementation, impact and benefit/cost analysis; Survey research;Labor market analysis; Program design and development; Training and technical assistance.

In addition, the Center serves as a training ground for the next generation of researchers and policymakers by offering stimulating work and research opportunities to graduate and post-graduate students at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Center for Health and Social Policy (CHASP)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chasplogo.jpgCHASP studies how health and social policy can be improved and designs and conducts rigorous and innovative research that advances policymaking and health, economic and social program outcomes. A hallmark of the research, education and outreach efforts of CHASP faculty, staff and students is their direct connection to public sector initiatives, agencies and policymakers who are working to address pressing health, economic and social needs that have not been confronted on this large scale since the 1960s.

RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service

The mission of the RGK Center is to build knowledge about nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and volunteerism, and to prepare students and practitioners to make effective contributions to their communities. The Center's research addresses pressing issues in philanthropy, nonprofit management, social entrepreneurship, and global civil society. The Center trains students through a university-wide graduate program in nonprofit studies and engages the world of practice through executive programs tailored to the needs of seasoned professionals in the field.

The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law

The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas at Austin provides the imagination, leadership and intellectual innovation required to help meet the challenges of the 21st century. It is designed to be a new kind of institution, one that engages the best minds in academia, government and the private sector in developing practical solutions to the pressing problems of an increasingly globalized world.

Student initiatives

The Baines Report is the officially-sponsored student publication of the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Led by students, the Baines Report publishes student opinion pieces and event coverage for the LBJ School.

Alumni chapters

These are the schools alumni chapters:

Commencement speakers 1972-2014

Rankings

The LBJ School is currently ranked 11th among public policy schools in 2016 by U.S. News & World Report, down from 9th in 2004, 7th in 2002 and 5th in 1998, but up from 16th in 2012.

1. John A. Gronouski (September 1969–September 1974)
2. William B. Cannon (October 1974–January 1977)
3. Alan K. Campbell (February 1977–April 1977)
4. Elspeth Rostow (April 1977–May 1983)
5. Max Sherman (July 1983–May 1997)
6. Edwin Dorn (Summer 1997–December 2004)
7. Bobby Ray Inman (January 2005–December 2005)
8. James B. Steinberg (January 2006–January 2009)
9. Bobby Ray Inman (January 2009–March 2010) [2]
10. Robert Hutchings (March 2010–September 2015)
11. Angela Evans (January 2016–)

Notable alumni