Recent News

Dean Henry E. Brady announced the appointment of Robert J. Birgeneau, the ninth Chancellor of the University of California Berkeley and a world renowned physicist, to the faculty of the Goldman School of Public Policy. Chancellor Birgeneau's major appointment is in physics, but in "his capacity as a public policy innovator and leader, especially in the fields of higher education and science policy, makes him a natural fit," says Dean Brady. Robert Birgeneau served as UC Berkeley's…

“Please donate food items here so Associates in Need can enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner.” That’s the text of a sign hanging over a bin at a Walmart in Canton, Ohio. A photo of the food drive surfaced earlier this month, sparking new attention to the connection between hunger and working conditions in America. This comes close on the heels of revelations that McDonald’s “McResource” help line is encouraging employees to meet basic needs…

The University of California, Berkeley invites applications for a tenured appointment to the faculty at the Associate or Full Professor level, to begin July 1, 2014. The candidate will be expected to provide organizational leadership for the Religious Diversity Cluster of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society. The successful candidate will be appointed in one or more departments at Berkeley (depending upon the candidate’s background). The successful candidate will also be considered for appointment to the Haas…

Research on the impacts of typhoons in the Philippines indicates that destruction increases by about 22 percent for each additional meter per second of wind speed exposure.  The images above map average typhoon wind speeds around the globe (averaged across year) between 1950 and 2008. The image on the right shows areas of the Philippines with the highest average winds in red. BERKELEY — Tropical cyclones hitting the Philippines inflict more and longer-lasting economic loss than generally recognized, and are linked to…

On October 16, Congress ended the government shutdown, bringing to a close a two-week distraction from critical issues facing the country. During this period of partisan politicking, some may have forgotten about the House Republicans’ plan to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often referred to as food stamps, by $39 million over the next 10 years. The four million Americans who are set to lose their benefits certainly didn’t forget and neither should we. On top of congressional…

Suburbia beckons many poor and working-class families with the promise of better schools, access to non-dead-end jobs and sanctuary from the looming threat of urban violence. But many suburbanites balk at the prospect of affordable housing in their midst. They fear that when poor people move next door crime, drugs, blight, bad public schools and higher taxes inevitably follow. They worry that the value of their homes will fall and the image of their town will suffer. It does not…

The Goldman School of Public Policy and Students of Color in Public Policy (SCIPP) are dedicated to increasing diversity within the program. As part of our mission, a group of graduate students in SCIPP is offering assistance to all prospective students in the application process. 

You co-founded Transform in 1997. What was your initial vision for starting the organization? As a cyclist, I had come to understand how 60 years of subdivisions, strip malls and highway-exit corporate parks were devastating our country. Planning for all this sprawl meant public transportation was being bled dry while highway projects got the green light. Huge numbers of people — especially low-income families, youth and many seniors — were cut off from opportunity. I’d always wanted to reverse these…

  Washington has been the incubator of bad practices lately, from gridlock to shutdown to utter inaction on the country's crucial needs. The most pressing of those needs is a strategy to create good-paying middle class jobs in America - when we are competing for those jobs globally. We need to be creative and daring. And we need to think less top-down and more bottom-up.  We need a jobs moon shot - a Jobs Race to the Top.…

Start by asking yourself a question: would you have a cell phone if you had to buy 20 years’ worth of minutes up front? The answer for most people is no. Similarly, we should not be surprised that it has been difficult to convince homeowners to make extensive energy efficiency home improvements.The energy and financial savings may be real, but such improvements require a lot of money up front — and…