We are pleased to announce that The International Public Policy and Management Institute (IPPMI) recently received a $400,000 Legislative Fellows grant from the United States State Department, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Over the next two years the Martin School will facilitate internships in government agencies and legislative bodies for twenty participants from Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia and Taiwan. Additionally, the Martin School will help with the selection of fifteen American professionals who will travel to participate in similar internships in Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia and Taiwan. This award would not have been possible without the help of the offices of the Kentucky congressional delegation. We are particularly grateful for help from the congressional office of Ben Chandler as they wrote a letter of support for the project. It is a great honor for the Martin School to serve as a host for the Fellowship program and be a part of this international exchange. We look forward to this as a great opportunity for expanding our international activities and thank the IPPMI Director, Doo Oak-Kim and especially the IPPMI administrator, Sarah Walters, for their hard work on the proposal. Click here to visit the IPPMI website. Click here to learn more about the Legislative Fellows Program

Director's Update for November 2011: We are now well into the 2011-12 academic year. We had 32 MPA, 6 MPP, and 6 Ph.D. students enter our program this year. These students bring our total in each of the programs to 63 for the MPA, 13 in the MPP, and 27 Ph.D. students. As you can see from our directory on the website, we have students coming from a wide range of backgrounds throughout the nation and world. We are glad to have them all here and wish them the best of luck as they continue their studies with us. Below are additional pieces of news from the Martin School. Read More.

At the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, two-year MPA and MPP students traditionally complete a 400 hour internship during the summer between their first and second years. This past summer, two students served the Lexington community, one represented the Martin School in Washington, D.C. and one worked for a national organization which has its headquarters in Lexington. Internships provide an on-the-job experience for students. Responsibilities range from research and reporting to constituent relations and bill-drafting. Read More.

The Martin School is pleased to introduce our newest faculty member, Dr. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo. Dr. Bromley-Trujillo joined the Martin School this fall, after completing her Ph.D. in Political Science at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on policymaking at the state level, looking primarily at issues of environmental and healthcare policy. Read More.

Ph.D. student William Walton has been named a Doctoral Fellow by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). In a very competitive process involving a large number of applicants, William was selected for this honor based on his research in fields of interest to the organization. He will receive a grant that will enable him to travel to a special ARNOVA seminar in Tronoto next month, where he will present his research.

Martin School alumnus Chuck Truesdell (MPA 2011) received the Robert L. Kline Award for an Outstanding Paper by a Masters Student at the 2011 Southeastern Conference of Public Administration (SECoPA). His paper, "U.S. State Employee Pension Systems: An Investigation into the Causes of Unfunded Liabilities", assessed the financial status of pension systems in thirty-three states. The paper was praised by the selection committee as "well done" with the "most thorough analysis," being "well written and presented" and of "great relevance." This is the fourth year running that a Martin school student has won this award with their capstone paper, and the 19th consecutive year that a Martin School has won a National award for a research paper.Chuck receiving his award from the Robert L. Kline Committee Chair, Dr. Robert Smith

Martin School Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. William Hoyt, was quoted as an expert on economic development in the October 11, 2011 edition of The Wall Street Journal. In the article, "Behind Perry's Jobs Success, Numbers Draw New Scrutiny", he expressed skepticism about Texas Governor Rick Perry's job creation claims.
Hoyt was also quoted in an article for Frankfort, Kentucky's The State Journal: "Certainly during the recession, I think there's been a clear reluctance to raise any taxes, and property tax is the most regulated in terms of restrictions that the state imposes on local government," Read more

Martin School alumnus Mark D. Birdwhistell has been named associate vice president for marketing and external affairs for UK HealthCare."Mark's experience is a great asset to UK HealthCare and in this new role, his leadership will provide even greater support in advancing our goals of becoming a Top 20 academic medical center," said Dr. Michael Karpf, UK Executive Vice President for Health Affairs. Read more

Merl Hackbart joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky 's Gatton College of Business and Economics with what was then a reasonably well-defined mission: To serve as an associate professor of economics and public administration, and to develop a school of public policy and administration at UK (that would be the now nationally regarded Martin School of Public Policy and Administration). Hackbart proved very successful in meeting these objectives, yet even he could not have predicted where his career would take him over the next 38 years. Read more

Do you want to know what it's really like to come to the Martin School? In this video, MPA and MPP students talk candidly about why they came to the Martin School, what they got out of the experience, and where they hope to go in the future. Watch the video