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9 Moments for 9 Decades of SPA

Scroll over the image below to learn more about each moment.
Jump down to view Speciality Areas.

1) March 3, 1934
A $4,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation trains 80 promising federal government employees. By 1937, enrollment exceeds 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students.


2) Shaping Public Leadership
The Key Executive Leadership Program, founded in 1975, training more than 2,500 public sector executives. Learn more about Key.


3) SGPA Becomes SPA
In 1988, SPA shifts focus to what became its core disciplines and departments: Public Administration & Policy, Government, and Justice, Law & Criminology. Read more about our Departments and Research Centers.


4) Bringing It All Together
In the 1980s, SPA launches the popular interdisciplinary undergraduate major CLEG (Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government).


5) Centering Scholarship since 1979
SPA devotes resources to centers and institutes covering a wide range of areas. Follow our centers and institutes.


6) Recognizing PERIL
Founded in 2019 the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) focuses on the rising threat of domestic terrorism. Learn more here.


7) Pushing the Envelope
The SPA Analytics and Management Institute (SAMI) launches in 2018 to build skills in graduate students and alumni through weekend courses with experienced practitioners.


8) Eroding Norms
SPA Associate Professor Laura Paler launches the in 2022 to study global democratic erosion and develop evidence-based policy recommendations to counteract it.


9) Leading the Way in Policing Reform
In collaboration with the International Association of Chiefs of Polic (IACP) SPA releases "Re-Envisioniong Police Training in the U.S.: Rejecting the Status Quo, Speeding the Pace of Progress Toward a True 21st Century Model." Read the report here.


Specialty Areas

Public Management & Leadership - Duncombe Duo
Ken Meier and Anna Amirkhanyan have both won NASPAA’s Duncombe Award, recognizing excellence in doctoral education, making SPA the only school to win the award twice. Learn more.

Public Management & Leadership - Good things come in Fours
SPA is ranked #4 in Public Management & Leadership by U.S. News & World Report; has four current faculty who are fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration (Jocelyn Johnston, Barbara Romzek, Bob Tobias, and Vicky Wilkins); and is host to four academic journals.

Public Management & Leadership - Holding the
The Key Executive Leadership Program, founded in 1975, training more than 2,500 public sector executives. Learn more about Key.


Taking a
SPA is home to the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (edited by Professor Erdal Tekin) and its companion podcast, “A Closer Look” (hosted by Professor Seth Gershenson).

Public Policy Analysis - Going to Camp
In 2019, SPA launched a “Public Policy” camp in partnership with APPAM to build a diverse pipeline of doctoral students concentrating on public policy.

Public Policy Analysis - Beyond Borders
SPA hosted the 2020 APPAM International Conference along with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.


Environmental Policy - Charting a New Path
The Center for Environmental Policy is launched in 2010, focused on applied research and policy analysis, dialogue between government and the private sector, and bringing educational opportunities to our students that develop the next generation of environmental leaders.

Environmental Policy - Celebrating Leadership
SPA annually celebrates environmentalists making an impact through the Reilly Award for Environmental Leadership, named in honor of former Conservational International and World Wildlife Fund president William K. Reilly.

Environmental Policy - Looking to the Future
SPA is convening thought leaders to address issues of climate mitigation, adaptation, resiliency, and more. Watch and learn more.


Homeland Security Policy - Recognizing PERIL
Founded in 2019 by Cynthia Miller-Idriss, the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) focuses on the rising threat of domestic terrorism.

Homeland Security Policy - Examining Our Moment
New books by Tricia Bacon and Thomas Zeitzoff examine the political realities of extremism. Bacon’s “Terror in Transition” examines the organization of terrorist movements, while Zeitzoff’s “Nasty Politics” looks at the increasing polarization of political discourse.

Homeland Security Policy - Making Sense of Violent Behavior
ʴ’s Joseph Young and David Malet examine the roots of violent behavior in their research. Young’s Tortured Logic looks at why Americans support torture, while Malet’s Foreign Fighters examines why some people are motivated to join foreign wars.


Social Policy - Making the Grade
Associate Professor Taryn Morrissey and Professor Seth Gershenson publish new research on early childhood education and teacher diversity, influencing policy and public discourse.

Social Policy - Feed the Fridge
Partnership with restaurateur Mark Bucher (SPA/BA ‘90) addresses food insecurity in the DC region.

Social Policy - Keeping the Book
Scholar in Residence Karen Baehler is the editor of the 2023 edition of The Oxford Handbook of Governance and Public Management for Social Policy.


Urban Policy - MPC in DC
ʴ’s Metropolitan Policy Center launched in 2014 to research urban and metropolitan issues and disseminate findings to policymakers, think tanks, foundations, nonprofits, and more.

Urban Policy - Two (or more) is Better than One
Partnerships with Anacostia Smithsonian Community Museum, District of Columbia’s Public Library, PENN Press, and the Wilson Center find solutions for urban challenges, such as affordable housing, economic development, racial and ethnic diversity, social service provision, and urban and regional governance.

Urban Policy - Documenting Change
Prof. Derek Hyra’s “Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City” is published in 2017, bringing research on gentrification to the public.


Nonprofit Management - RIsing to the Challenge
ʴ’s Khaldoun AbouAssi is leading a multi-university effort into the international governance of refugee camps.

Nonprofit Management - Setting the Tone
ʴ’s Lewis Faulk is the editor-in-chief of Nonprofit Management & Leadership

Nonprofit Management - The Hosts with the Most
SPA will serve as a local host of the 2024 ARNOVA conference in Washington, DC. If you are in town, check us out!