 Good evening, everybody. Please take your seats. Thank you I'm Susan Collins the Joan and Sanford Wildein of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy And I am just thrilled to have all of you here with us this evening It was a real pleasure to meet many of you yesterday at the Ford schools commencement open house and It is just a real honor to Welcome all of you here for what is really Just such a highlight the culmination of the academic year the Ford schools 2013 commencement ceremony I'd like to start by introducing the members of the platform party with me on stage is the honorable mr. Paul O'Neill Our commencement speaker who will be introduced more fully in just a few minutes To Paul's left is Janet Weiss who is the Dean of the Rackham Graduate School and the university's vice provost for academic affairs for graduate studies Well, officially Janet is here representing the University of Michigan But it is our great fortune to count her as a member of the Ford schools faculty And so I'm delighted that she is here with us this evening Also on stage there are two additional faculty colleagues John Churchari who will be reading the names of our graduates and Carl Simon who will deliver the faculty address a little bit later and Finally elected by their respective classmates to provide the student commencement addresses We have the soon-to-be Ford school MPP graduate Cynthia Watanasami and BA graduate Eli day Well two years ago I traveled to Washington DC to attend the dedication of a beautiful new statue of President Ford Which stands in the US Capitol rotunda as one of the two statues that represent the state of Michigan That statue was created by a young sculptor and University of Michigan graduate Jay Brett grill The statue really captures something profound about our school's namesake and it does that so well That Marty Allen a longtime friend of the Ford school commissioned a scale model of that work of President Ford for his centennial the 100th anniversary of his birth, which we have been celebrating throughout the year 2013 that model now stands in the Ford school's great hall And I hope that those of you who are with us for the open house yesterday had a chance to see it And perhaps you were there earlier this spring when we unveiled the statue But for those who have not had a chance to see it yet it really portrays President Ford in a very special way He is standing he has books in one hand and the other hand perhaps has just opened his jacket But the expression on his face is ready and open. It's ready for whatever might come his way His stance is of a man who is moving forward a man about to move towards whatever issue or challenge May arise and when asked what he wanted to express in this quiet But really powerful statue of President Ford Brett grill replied that he tried to capture Ford and I quote Standing up and trying to heal a country doing the right thing rather than the popular thing Doing the right thing not the popular thing running towards a challenge instead of away from it We saw examples of that kind of heroism recently during the tragic events of the Boston Marathon Faced with the unimaginable Everyday people most completely unknown to one another Ran towards the injured and towards those who are in need and they tried to help and to comfort them To put one's fears aside and run towards whatever the challenge might be is difficult and it's humbling It's also an example of people of citizens at their very best and as President Ford once said Good citizenship and again, I quote requires personal involvement and action to bring about change Well, we live in a time that many believe is as challenging as President Ford's era But the challenges of our time are not insurmountable and Ford school students believe that wholeheartedly In fact, they count on it and they will run towards the challenges that the policy world throws at them And we know there will be many challenges They will catalyze great change in the world Today's graduates already understand what President Ford knew and that is that citizenship entails engagement That public service demands Humility and openness and that leadership requires both compassion and the courage to make difficult choices Well, bravo graduates. We're so proud. You have to keep up the good work for the classes of 2013 But before our graduates cross the stage and take up those new challenges It seems like a good time to address a question that might be a common one in some of your family gatherings And that question is just what is public policy anyway Well, public policy is our collective quest To address the most pressing and stubborn problems and to seize opportunities for society How can good science be translated into action to slow the pace of climate change? How can we address the persistently high unemployment and slow job growth, especially in struggling rust belt cities such as Detroit? How can we ensure that human rights and security are maintained in the context of growing threats to that security? The complexity of these and other challenges requires bright and energetic doers Who are prepared to move forward to find creative and viable solutions? Well in 2014 the Ford School will celebrate 100 years of educating just those sorts of public policy professionals Launched in 1914 We were the first graduate program in the nation to train professionals for public service in local governments And then in 1968 during one of this country's most tumultuous years Ips was born We were renamed the Institute for Public Policy Studies and our focus shifted to emphasize social science research Economics political science sociology and more as the foundation of sound public policy Like today's graduates Ipsers as they were fondly called Received rigorous training in the quantitative analysis of economic political and organizational questions Our focus also broadened to encompass national and international issues as well And in 1999 the school was named for President Gerald R. Ford and we wear that name so proudly As I have mentioned this year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth And we have been actively celebrating President Ford's remarkable life and legacy throughout the year That legacy is very much alive here at his namesake school Where we draw example and inspiration from his lifelong commitment to public service his courage and his decency Being named for President Ford catalyzed an era of tremendous growth Including the school's physical space as we moved into the beautiful Weill Hall in 2006 and growth in our educational programs Has truly reshaped our identity. It has made us one of the most esteemed public policy schools in the nation a Comprehensive full service school with outstanding PhD and undergraduate programs added to our flagship master's degrees So far 52 students have received joint doctoral degrees in public policy and either economics Sociology or political science and they have had impressive success in the job market earning tenure-track faculty positions prestigious postdoc fellowships and research posts with organizations such as the Federal Reserve Board the Treasury Department Mathematica Policy Research and the Gates Foundation We launched our undergraduate program in the fall of 2007 and it was an immediate success in terms of the quality of students It attracted The deep engagement of our faculty in teaching and mentoring and the postgraduate impact of those students our BA Alums are working in troubled school districts as Teach for America volunteers. They're serving abroad in the Peace Corps They're learning the ropes in DC and on political campaigns and they're earning advanced degrees and pursuing PhDs in fields such as law business public policy medicine and higher education Our excellent faculty continues to expand and with joint appointments that range from economics political science sociology math and history to business social work education natural resources information and urban planning Faculty expertise at the Ford School is truly broad and deep Our students will tell you that our faculty are also thoughtful enthusiastic teachers and mentors and They're actively engaged through their game-changing research and their direct public service with critically important policy challenges And let me give you just two examples John Chorchari is a senior legal advisor to the Documentation Center of Cambodia helping bring to justice perpetrators of atrocities committed over 30 years ago by members of the Khmer Rouge regime and Carl Simon Investigates lethal infections diseases like drug-resistant staph infections that target the most vulnerable patients in hospitals sexually transmitted diseases like HIV AIDS and avian malaria This has wiped out many of Hawaii's indigenous birds and his transformational research identifies factors that are most responsible for fueling the spread of those dire infections so that policymakers can better target their response I Am so proud of our terrific professional staff as well a team that keeps the Education the research the public service and engagement missions of the school moving forward We couldn't do it without all of them and at this time I would like to ask all of the faculty and staff of the Ford School who are here with us today if They would please stand would love to recognize them. Please all of our faculty and staff Thank all of you each and every one for all that you do for the Ford School and Now for the accomplishments of tonight's graduates What have they learned during their time here and what have they already given back to us? Well, let me start with our newest PhD graduates Emily beam Robert garlic Susan Godlinton and Daniel Murphy all of whom earned a doctorate in public policy And economics and Lafleur Stevens who has earned a doctorate in public policy and political science Well later you will hear their dissertation titles and from them you will get a sense of just how wide-ranging and Important their research has been I'd like to focus on their really impressive job market success Emily beam will be a visiting professor of economics at the National University of Singapore Robert garlic is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the World Bank Development Research Group and will join Duke University in the fall of 2014 as an assistant professor of economics Currently a postdoctoral fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute Susan Godlinton will be an assistant professor of economics at Williams College Dan Murphy will start in the fall as assistant professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and Lafleur Stevens will join Princeton University as an assistant professor of political science in the fall We're so proud of each and every one of them as well. Congratulations We have 97 students earning a master's degree tonight the Ford schools rigorous MPP and MPA curriculum give students the skills to collect analyze evaluate and present information about a wide range of public concerns We encourage our students to take seminars that involve real-world policy consulting and we require that our MPP students apply What they learn in the classroom doing a summer internship our graduate students are incredibly diverse They speak 20 different languages and hail from 18 countries. They're also an athletic group They made the Ford school very proud We might be a small school, but we brought home the championship Stevenson Cup from the campus intramural League this year. So congratulations for that This group is also one of our most proactive and community-minded Groups to gate and they developed a new student-led course based on the TV drama of the wire They reinvigorated two really wonderful student groups the Domestic Policy Corps and women and gender in public policy And most recently they planned and organized a three-mile solidarity run through campus after the events in Boston Many members of the class have already finalized their immediate employment plans despite what as many of you know Is an extremely challenging federal hiring climate to the parents in the room? Please accept my personal reassurances that we will continue to work with and offer support to our graduates and all of Them will find work in city state or federal governments in the private sector in think tanks NGOs in the u.s. Or abroad There are 55 students graduating today with a bachelor of arts in public policy and they've received much more than a typical undergraduate education we sometimes call it the liberal arts degree on steroids in small classes with some of the University of Michigan's top faculty our BA curriculum trained students to Think critically and across disciplines to understand policy challenges and work to develop solutions Rba students are curious hard-working and very engaged The group boasts seven Phi Beta Kappa's and they are the ones who are wearing the gold cords tonight as well as 20 angel scholars and as you heard earlier today in the big house the inaugural winner of the Raoul Wallenberg award Zach Petrone The students truly are leaders and best across a wide variety of campus activities including athletics publications Politics and so much more The BA and MPP graduating classes presented the school with generous parting gifts totaling nearly $5,000 to fund opportunities for future classes Their gift speaks volumes about their belief in the value of a Ford school education and the importance of making those Experiences possible for others Well, we know that our graduates did not arrive at their accomplishments alone We're also joined by some 700 family members and friends tonight And I know that all of our graduates really value the love and the support that you have provided to them over the years So graduates I'd like to give you the opportunity To thank your family and friends both those who are here with us today And also all of those who are only able to be here in spirit. Thank you to all of our family and friends graduates On behalf of the Ford school. I say thank you for your investment in our community It has been a pleasure to work with you and to get to know you I know that many of you may have mixed feelings about what today represents You've achieved so very much, but you'll miss the many joys of life in Ann Arbor and at the Ford school You'll miss your friends and your classmates, of course and the holiday skits and Dominic's Sweeping up the competition at the room ball championships But despite all that you'll miss today It's also a day that is really truly full of promise promise of new work new cities new friends and new challenges Branch Ricky the Baseball Hall of Famer and UM alumnus who forever changed our national pastime by signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers Once said and I quote if things don't come easy. There's no premium on effort There should be joy in the chase and zest in the pursuit Well, you know that there will be times when things won't come easy Especially in your chosen profession the universe of public policy But appreciate the getting there remember run towards the challenge and give to the world what you have given to us at the Ford school your Engagement your intelligence your compassion and your unwavering commitment to fostering community And whenever you're in town Please remember that you can walk through those doors on state and hill Just to say hello to tell us what you're engaged with Know that you will always have a home here in Ann Arbor. We are so proud of you congratulations and best wishes to the classes of 2013 and go blue and now it is my great pleasure to introduce our 2013 commencement speaker the honorable mr. Paul O'Neill Mr. O'Neill served as the 72nd United States Secretary of the Treasury Mr. O'Neill was a colleague of President Ford's he joined the White House Office of Management and Budget in 1967 and served as the deputy director of OMB during the Ford administration from 1974 to 1977 he went on to tremendous success in the private sector as well He was chairman and CEO of alcoa until his retirement in 2000 as well as the chairman of the rand corporation He's engaged in a number of philanthropic and community service endeavors in his hometown of Pittsburgh Including initiatives that are aimed at improving health care quality and patient safety He's been a really good friend to the Ford school as well and was one of the key leaders who helped us in building while Hall mr. O'Neill has a master's in public administration from our sister school at Indiana University And so he's deeply familiar with the kind of preparation that our students have received We are so honored to have him here with us and Very proud to introduce him to deliver our 2013 commencement address. Please join me in welcoming mr. O'Neill Thank You Dean Collins The Dean was good enough to invite me to come here and I was grateful for the opportunity because while I've had many opportunities since my days in the Ford administration to reflect on those days and to Be interviewed At places like the Miller Center for the study of the presidency at the University of Virginia about those days and Be on the record in a lot of ways. I really look forward to the opportunity To tell you something about what in my heart about a Gerald R. Ford so faculty parents spouses children graduates It's so great to see you So I want to give you a really important piece of advice if you don't remember anything else I'd say I hope you'll remember this whatever else you do in your life Budget time to have fun So one other thing I've learned in giving commencement addresses the only sure applause line is one that says I'm going to be brief And I am It's my hope that in your time here You've come to know something about the namesake of your school My own experience with president Ford began when he was the house minority leader and then vice president and then president and Then through his post-presidential years I Went to tie my own memories of working with president Ford to the principles he lived by Which I commend to you as guideposts for your own lives Present Ford was a lifelong student. I commend that to you and He lived by the motto be prepared on the micro level I Remember his calling me in wanting to know the local economic consequences of the placement of off-ramps from Interstate highways what kind of businesses would be Attracted how many jobs would be created what would happen to property values? And you wouldn't be surprised to know he was particularly interested in off-ramps in Michigan On the macro level He was a member of the House Appropriations Committee for 23 of the 25 years He was in the Congress and he became a leading expert About all matters that run through the federal fiscal policy He was a student of the substance not just the numbers and he was particularly knowledgeable about matters regarding defense and national security When he became the president He saw the budget as his instrument for shaping and expressing priorities He believed the budget reflected Revealed priorities not smarmy stuff people say about things But the hard facts of how we allocate resources to or not to the many thousands of competing demands in our lives During his 29 month in office he spent hundreds of hours Personally deciding what levels of financial support should be requested for everything in the budget I Spent those hours sitting at the right corner of his desk With the sunlight streaming in through his shoulder when the when it wasn't moonlight Sharing facts and analysis as he made his decisions Others were there from time to time Vice president Rockefeller Jim Lynn Jim Cannon Carla Hills to name a few The president puffed on his pipe. It was still okay to do that then He quieted Liberty his wonderful dog with his right hand While he peppered us with questions Having been in the government for some time before I had the pleasure to serve as the deputy director under him I was a student of presidents and budgets and I knew that the last president To personally present his budget to the media was president Truman So as we completed the preparation of the budget in December of 1975 I recommended to president Ford that he present his budget to the media and Answered their questions in an open-ended format So in January of 1976 the media hundreds literally hundreds of reporters Assembled in the large auditorium at the State Department and the print president Answered their every question for more than an hour and a half He dazzled them with a mastery of detailed facts that he knew He was prepared It was interesting when we were assembled on this stage the president was at the far left end of the stage and Arrayed across the stage for all of the cabinet secretaries and leaders of agencies and a few people like me at the far end of the stage and The president got up and he said something I remember got a pretty good laugh He's he after introducing the key facts about that year's budget presentation He said and all of these people here are even more expert than I am about all of these things and I may call on some of them to Answer your questions, but I want you all to understand including them that I may choose to add or subtract from what they tell you In good humor and people like that a lot You know, I remember I was saying this day yesterday and one of the events we had To illustrate how much the president knew about his own budget. I think it was the 28th of December of 1975 And we had an early morning meeting. It's like seven o'clock in the morning in the Roosevelt Room across from the Oval Office And when the meeting broke up the president motion to me and said stay behind for Paul So I said okay, and he said I've been thinking about the decisions that I've made and I know it's really late in the budget process And if you can't do this, you should tell me honestly in those ways days. You can't imagine this. We didn't have Excel sheets We didn't have computers so when we put together a budget that the budget document and the appendix and all the supporting documents had thousands of pages and unbelievable numbers a number of numbers in them and So if we changed one number when we got to December the 28th It caused changes in 4500 numbers because of the way the budget is Assemble then the numbers feed into each other until you get to the final number for the total of the budget So activities go up through departments and agencies and activities and all the rest of that and into all the cross-cutting tables So he said you can't do this just tell me So he said this is what I want to do. I've been thinking about it and the decision I made for the budget for the foundation for national Arts and humanities was to provide or request a hundred and ninety five million dollars for the arts and humanities in this budget and I will if you can't I want to raise it to two hundred million dollars So I can be the first president to recommend $200 million for this important subject So I didn't know how we were gonna do it, but I said of course mr. President will get it done and we did But you know, I hope it conveys to you How much he cared about what he did in every way about everything and How much mastery he had of the details of how we allocate resources in our society parenthetically, I have to tell you this present Ford would have been appalled at The two frequent conversations that occur these days When people argue about what the level of defense spending should be as a percentage of GDP He knew in his time how many people He thought we needed by service in uniform How many ships how many aircraft by types and capabilities for him Defense spending as a percent of GDP was a consequence of need not some artifice of of a macro fiscal policy judgments present Ford was guide by a guy by a maximum Do the right thing? When I say that for many of you you may immediately think about the Nixon pardon Which only after 30 or 40 years it became up? Popular sentiment that it was in fact the right thing, but I want to offer you two other examples That at the time Or what I call against the tide So imagine this 10 days after taking office He issued a proclamation for conditional amnesty for draft evaders saying this Reconciliation calls for an act of mercy to bind the nation's wounds and to heal the scars of divisiveness That was a courageous thing. It was not a popular sentiment And then in April of 1975 He announced the resettlement of a hundred and thirty thousand refugees from Vietnam He said this to do less Would have added moral shame to humiliation And as he made the announcement he called me in and told me Paul this needs to be done flawlessly Because there's a strong sentiment in the country not to do it But it's the right thing to do and I don't want to give any ammunition to the critics So he was an empowering president and he said Do it flawlessly and do whatever you need to do And so I assembled the heads of all the departments and agencies that needed to be involved in this including a representative From the Defense Department who was a young general and they were in my office in the old executive office building and I was saying to them this is what the president wants to have done and We need to reopen what had been a military camp during the second war and Fort Chaffee, Arkansas and Indian Gap Pennsylvania and a number of other places in the country and when I was finished telling them what we need to do the general said to me Well, I presumed that you were going to say this to us And so I had a conversation with the secretary before I came over and the secretary said to tell you We can't We the military cannot be involved in this it will deplete our our readiness to do our primary mission And I said, you know, that's very interesting. So right here where I can reach it is my telephone and when I pick it up I have a direct line that connects me to the White House and I'm going to pick it up and Put the president on and let him tell you And he looked at me and he said that won't be necessary You know, I didn't it was really unusual to have anyone challenge an order that I Suggested to them came from the president and it wasn't often I had to invoke the president people were good about saying Okay, we'll do what the president wants us to do But I tell you what I did it with Absolute certainty that the president would say Generalistic commander-in-chief just do what mr. O'Neill told you He was that kind of a friend Finally, I want to urge on you the adoption of president Ford's personal qualities In all of my experience with him I never saw him diminish another human being By his act or ward He was an uplifter in matters big and small When my wife was invited to attend events Musicals and speeches and other events He would hold her hand and Tell her how much he appreciated my work for him At Christmas time He would call our home to wish us happy holidays The last weekend of his presidency He told me to take my family to Camp David as a final thanks That's a memory My wife and four children will never forget so To properly carry forward the legacy of Gerald R. Ford You need to remember and practice Only a few ideas The first idea is be prepared I think you've been Privileged to be here where you understand the idea of be prepared Second Do the right thing There is no job title No amount of money That's worth the sacrifice of principal and above all else. I Remember these words I'll tell you the long version and then the short the longer version is on my honor I will do my best to do my duty To God in my country It's too much for you In all you do in life Remember those three words on my honor Thank you and Godspeed Thank you very much At this time I am delighted to welcome members of the amazing blue to the stage Amazing blue is the University of Michigan's oldest co-ed acapella ensemble and they will perform two classics from the Michigan University of Michigan songbook amazing blue Thank you very much Each year the Ford school's graduating students are asked to elect people to play key roles at commencement In particular one faculty member is chosen to speak to the classes Both sets of graduating classes chose a representative student speaker as well as The faculty speaker the classes of 2013 have elected professor Carl Simon Carl is a professor of mathematics economics complex systems and public policy and he directs our science technology and public policy program He was also the founding director of the University of Michigan Center for the study of complex systems Carl in 2012 received a Rackham distinguished faculty achievement award for his long-time commitment Both to research and to teaching Carl has taught calculus to many of our graduates and as you know that is no easy subject It is really a tribute to Carl's popularity and standing among the students that and perhaps Despite his course. They chose him to deliver the faculty address and so I am delighted to invite him now to Speak on behalf of our faculty Carl Thank you class of 2013 for this honor and this opportunity Has Dean Collins said it's a day of joy mixed with a little sadness Joy for the opportunity to take your credentials your knowledge your skills to make a difference in our world Or at least maybe to take the next step at making that difference and maybe sadness at leaving your fellow classmates Hopefully your fellow teachers At the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy So in the remaining hour that I have I would like to try to sum up For you and for me, but especially for your family members Just what is it that's so special about the Ford School? I Get this opportunity often. I'm on three or four Faculty hiring search committees and I'm often asked the question Why come to the University of Michigan and why especially to that Ford School of Public Policy? Just what makes you em and FSPP such a special place Well, I've thought about this and so I have some suggestions for you. I am I think it's pretty straightforward They're for for Smart engaging and creative faculty Smart Engaging and creative students and I've taught it and and I'm actually somewhat serious about this I've taught at a number of schools and it really there's a really a difference teaching here and it's pretty exciting The other part however, there are a number of schools that have those characteristics But there's a characteristic that only the University of Michigan has and that's thin walls you feel then the winter I know It's it's the top-down encouragement of cross-disciplinary research The realization that there's no problem out there that can be solved only within one discipline and and the fourth item is The incredible cultural heritage we have that includes the the music the theater the dance that comes to this room and also Hill auditorium down the street Those are my answers and I think I think they hold water What about the Ford school why the Ford school of public policy so I also have thought about it and I have four or five Deeply felt reasons why I think we are special and that you made the right choice and I hope you agree One is as the dean suggested. We're a combination of a professional school and a social science discipline So we we we've talked about how to get policy done and why and how to analyze I think that's important, but even beyond that as the dean also suggested I think we are the most quantitative public policy school in the country and that gives an impressive Toolbox of solving problems. You don't just pull down a Software solution you people actually have been taught and have thought about how to look at And solve and analyze a problem and the world knows this and I think that this will make a big difference in your careers The third reason is the student community It's truly a community really diverse community, but a community and I think that's important And I tell everybody that you have no idea how easier it makes my job Knowing that you're there helping teach each other answering each other's questions helping me and that's a it makes this place special The fourth is this group over here to my left. I this is my family. I love them you know, I We brainstorm with each other We we listen to each other. We write papers with each other. We actually spend our free time with each other I've been to baseball games with the Barry Raib I've eaten dinner at Bob Axelrod's house I played poker this week with John Chamberlain and and Melavitsky and Alan Dierdorf and sometimes Paul Carrant and Yajur Henry Next week Carrant and Chamberlain are going fishing and when they come back. I hope I'm going birdwatching with Chamberlain And just a couple weeks ago we hosted a wine party It was Sandy and Sheldon Danziger and Mary Corcoran and David Thatcher and Paul Carrant and John Chamberlain and I at the home of the dean for a group of public policy students This this camaraderie I think makes a difference and and this sort of hints at the fifth and that is these communities are not separate We've thought about joining them and keeping the To one large so that the whole is far bigger than the sum of its parts So I think so I love this place and it's you know, I thank The faculty the staff the students. I have a couple other offices, but this is my home So now I want to get a little nostalgic How did this arise? How did this community of incredibly interesting creative people come about so I've done go work I've talked to John Chamberlain about this. We're about to celebrate our hundredth anniversary and our 50th as an Institute of Public Policy studies and the answer is simple. It started that way Okay, in in the late 60s Pat Crescent whose origins like Secretary O'Neill's are Is adult origins are actually in Pittsburgh at CMU? Was charged with building a charter for an Institute of Public Policy and he thought of all the things that I've talked about And how to make them happen. I Came about 10 or 12 years later and I found the dream team Both in terms of faculty and in terms of students so there were political science and the amazing thing is So most of them are still here, okay I've been to many places where the turnover faculty is great in the school public policy We enjoy it and we enjoy the community so much that we are still here enjoying it Edie Goldenberg who later became who there were three directors that made it special I think Edie Goldenberg Paul Caranth and John Chamberlain took their turns They're all still here and enjoying it and directing We have a few people left Bob Putnam left to become Dean of this Kennedy School out east You know some people At the center of all this however Is someone who can't be here because he passed away a few years ago our dear friend Ned Gramlich Ned was a director when I came He was director most of the time I was here. He was the first Dean of the School of Public Policy he left to Become a member of the Federal Reserve Board with with Alan Greenspan and also like our distinguished speaker disagreed quite a bit with the with his boss and In fact, you know tried to warn him unsuccessfully about the coming housing crisis After his term that came back also be a provost But he was such a spirit of glue that that held us together. What about the students? Well Pat Crescent thought of this from the start You'll be glad to know Dean Collins. They actually brought a keg of beer Every Friday to the student lounge to start building this community Might be a little harder these days And and then there was students so when in 1980 one of the wildest students was a young kid named Jeff Mackey Mason This Mackey Mason character War earrings and pins and and and and Mohawk hair and did everything to be wild in particular he wrote us a parody of the School newspaper which was then called the Ips tips. He wrote the Ips rips. It was full of sarcasm satire and Some friendly not so friendly insults of the of the of the faculty And you know what? We couldn't wait till it came out to see if we made the Ips rips and I still have my complete collection For example Ned Grammick who once accidentally kicked a bucket and teaching was portrayed in the Ips rips always with a bucket as one of his shoes Jeff by the way turned out to be another typical Ips graduate he went and got an Econ a PhD in economics from MIT came back to teach at the University of Michigan and now Still wearing the same clothes is a dean of our school of information What another sort of really bonding incident was the holiday skit and I remember my first one I portrayed Trays first Predecessor who was bald and I actually had to wear a swimming cap to cover my of women's swimming cap to cover my bald head To be part of this skit But there were wild things like professor Larry Moore was a great banjo player playing his favorite song talking program evaluation blues and Larry and one of the best-named public policy students win cash dollar used to sing a song whose chorus went Sitting in the back row working on my macro Win went on to be a co-founder of the capital steps another Ips rip-off So you see the wonderful spirit that's the essence of the Ford school the spirit that still thrives and I want to mention Part of the part of the hard work has been to keep that spirit going. We've been lucky to have deans Blankin Collins who have really understood that and nourished it and there have been two faculty members I want to single out Elena del Banco The writing instructor who helped all of you who's just retired and Sheldon Danziger who came Not long after the events. I've described. He is a self-proclaimed apostate economist Sheldon's off to head the the the Russell sage foundation. We're gonna miss him deeply Anyway, this is the spirit that has nurtured us. I hope it'll nurture you Continue to embrace this spirit to cuddle with it to brag about it to others and most important most important Don't forget to start your day with algebraic aerobics Should we show them how come on up? up up up Ready x squared minus x squared x cubed minus x cubed x squared go blue Algebraic aerobics, thank you Carl The undergraduate class of 2013 has elected Eli Day to speak on their behalf Eli's focus area His focus area at the Ford school has been global poverty and economic growth He spent last winter semester studying abroad at the American University in Cairo Where he volunteered to teach English to refugees from Sudan? He has served a number of roles with Congressman Hanson Clark's office from fundraising and volunteer Mobilization to policy advisor and liaison with the business community in June of 2011 He was selected by the Detroit City Council to participate in a young Americans roundtable discussion with officials from the Obama administration Eli, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to the podium Thank You Dean Collins for the introduction for school faculty staff and community and of course the family and friends many of whom are present And to my fellow graduates, I'm deeply grateful to you all for trusting me with these five minutes as I do my best To capture the diversity of feeling that this moment carries Particularly as the feeling begins to settle in that life is leading somewhere and that policy may mean more than the free sandwich Is given to us at orientation Righteous as they were But today we begin to live policy and confront the consequences of its legacy And so I think it's important that we begin by acknowledging the indigenous populations whose land we gather on today We must provide that affirmation one because we don't do so enough And two because these populations where the targets victims and most importantly survivors of policy a legacy that we inherit Similarly, I'd be remiss not to acknowledge a childhood friend whom I ran into not long ago We've kept in touch intermittently throughout the years, but have been interrupted by his on again off again incarceration a Friend whose anger was used not as a tool for understanding the consequences of maldistributed resources or even a lived reality within that context But as a justification for his continued restraint and silencing a Friend whose mother's concerns about her son were referred to our school security staff before any administrator a Policy as we got on with the business of catching up and reliving memories past He told me he was proud of me for my accomplishments for distance travel He told me he had only dreamed of college in the type of access I had grown to take advantage of The tragedy of his story is not in this isolation, but its frequency His absence in the absence of countless others is only amplified by the empty seats that remain in this auditorium They serve as a clarification That the extension of the privileges that we enjoy to those who have only dreamed of them does not threaten our position But better positions all of us who are interested in getting this thing right This moment is as much about them as it is about us And it is with this dual consciousness in mind that I give my remarks today The consciousness that says we can simultaneously celebrate the proud legacy we inherit While also making allowance for our grievances with that legacy In the same way that we can embrace the accumulated wisdom of past generations while also holding it to scrutiny The two do not have to be incompatible. And in fact, I propose they be married throughout our engagement with policy So that while we celebrate our elite education, we also resist its trappings Of training leaders and not always thinkers Holders of power but not its critics That we can work to alleviate human suffering where we may while recognizing the limits of policy Because while we take pride in our positions as the change makers and leaders of today and tomorrow We understand that that leadership often means stepping aside Creating the space for those we serve to articulate their own humanity as only they can And at a time when the premium is placed on the immediacy of action I hope that we have the courage and humility to admit when we don't know Which we begin by thinking our way outside of our assumptions one solitary skeptical resistant mind at a time And when we do understand Just when we've become most comfortable in our wisdom, I hope that we question ourselves more in that moment than at any other And even though many of us have shared the fear of time wasted, I hope we resist the call to action that says do it But don't think too much That fear for many of us comes from the concern that the communities we serve and indeed that some of us call home Often do not have the luxury of time and in turn we adopt that limitation as our own Our challenge is to confront that because we have the privilege of time. We must do our best to not squander it To be conscious of time but take the time to think and not act That we may learn to exercise control over what we think and the choice of how we construct meaning from experience To think revolutionarily and resist accusations of naivety for the promotion of an impossible agenda Resist the accusations that our idealism is informed by madness or is in fact madness itself That madness can inform a creative genius our forerunners would encourage us to embrace Embrace it as we've embraced the differences that have filled every lecture hallway and discussion. We've occupied together Well, we brought fundamentally different lenses and filters to what have been two years of shared experience I've also found a fear of difference where there should be celebration because more often than not those differences correspond to gaps and knowledge That can be filled through shared experience The value of which is limitless, but should stop at the favoring of uniformity over difference So at best then let our efforts transform the world At worst let our best efforts change the tone of the conversation Let understanding guide our analysis Let our analysis be followed by diagnosis and our diagnosis by treatment and if that treatment proves misguided Let us be brave enough to start over Graduates It has been a pleasure to learn with you To grow with you and to walk beside you. It's been righteous Thank you all Thank You Eli and Now we will hear from the student who was elected to speak from the master's class of 2013 Cynthia Rathinasamy Cynthia's coursework at the Ford School has focused on international development Human rights and gender specific policy issues She interned last summer with the State Department where she assisted in transition planning related to the conflicts in Syria While at the Ford School she has planned successful events for student organizations And she's written articles for our school magazine and for the International Policy Center. She's also hosted debates she earned her undergraduate degree in political science from Penn State and Given that big 10 rivalry I I understand that for two years now. She has steadfastly refused to sing the victors Well fortunately for us her classmates do not hold that against her and indeed they have selected her to speak on their behalf Cynthia it is an honor to invite you to the podium Thank You Dean Collins and thank you Eli. That was amazing reminder in August 2010 I decided to go to graduate school for a typical but ignoble reason because I wasn't promoted up my job At the time I was frustrated. I was unfulfilled and I wanted much more out of my career I saw policy school as a way to do that and also as an easy out But then a funny thing happened when I came here despite my utilitarian reasoning for coming to Michigan I started to really enjoy talking about policy I would get riled up about policy issues and excited about discourse on the interactions between policy Policy makers the consequences of policy randomized control trials on pop the effects of policies policy talks policy webinars roundtables with policy wonks Everything policy however, this was a break. It certainly was not a margarita filled vacation in a while haul So what time what does all this time and sacrifice add up to what was the point? I spent a lot of time thinking about this question. I don't have a cohesive answer, but I have a few thoughts First I feel like it can finally answer the question. So what exactly is public policy? Without reverting to my previous can't answer. Oh, you know the study of how the government does things To me policy isn't just the study of what is going wrong with the world and how we need to fix it It is a practice of engaging in public service through empathy and learning It is knowing that I do not have all the answers and I never will But that I must try to understand various points of view Second I know that passion and idealism are worth having but they're not easy to hold on to and the past couple years I have found passions that I didn't know existed I have become a raging feminist and I now know that I want to work on gender equity issues But I've been told that's a niche topic. I'm interested in international development But I've been told that an American in this field is inherently paternalistic All of these comments have made me doubt and tainted my idealism and tempered my passion But then there are times when I don't doubt when I hear about the gender wage gap And I when I hear about women being used as tools of combat At times like that I know that the path that I'm traveling is right for me because I feel the drive to make the world a better place for women But in those times when I do doubt I try to hold on to the things that kept me coming to Wild Hall each day The first is something that I think we can all relate to we are all huge nerds And let's face it. We picked a we let's face it We get excited about some pretty strange stuff and as nerds we couldn't have picked a more perfect profession And what other field can we effectively use quantitative and qualitative studies? Happily attend wonky meetings and get really excited when Ben Bernanke comes to town Another thing is the recognition that my path is winding Last summer a higher up in DC gave me some advice that stayed with me. He told me to find my lighthouse Granted this advice was dispensed over a few drinks at a happy hour, but I promise it is good advice He asked me to think about these questions. What lights your fire and gets you raring to go each day That's your lighthouse Even in jobs that don't see relevant if I keep my eye on the right house in 30 years my path will make sense Finally despite the struggles in the doubts I found a passion and ideals to live by something I laughed before I came I gained lifelong friends And I had some of the best conversations of my life in Wild Hall and Anna and Ann Arbor For me the accomplishments didn't come easily. I want to take a few moments to say thank yous to the people who got me here Thank you for the Ford School staff for having patience with my questions and my doubts Thank you to the faculty for opening up new ideas to me and for encouraging me to push back in questions from their authority Thank you to my loved ones for your unending support and compassion Thank you to the BA who helped me help pick me off the Wild Hall staircase after I fell them up them Coffee and all in my first week at Ford School. I never forgot that kindness, but I wish I had thought to ask for your name Finally, thank you to you 40s. We've done some remarkable things during our time at the Ford School We've spoken at conferences engaged in case competitions and made international friendships Worked on campaigns submitted countless memos and problem sets created organizations and started families We've become skilled at identifying the strange smells coming from the student lounge and figuring out just how little sleep We can still get and still be productive the next day Now as we prepare to leave these grounds either for employment or fun employment I know we will probably continue to have doubts, but there are three certainties that I'm looking forward to First I won't ever have to feel guilty again about choosing to watch Hulu over reading my economics textbook Second I have many more opportunities as a couchsurf now that you all will be spread throughout the world and country And I find and finally this will sound cheesy But I know that there are over a hundred more 40s out there in the world striving to make an impact Thank you and congratulations Thank You Cynthia, and now we are at the moment that all of the family and friends have been looking forward to all evening Our graduates are ready to come to the stage to receive official congratulations on a job so well done This year the names will be read by our faculty member John Torchari John is an assistant professor of public policy. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on politics political Institutions post-conflict law and transition John has an undergraduate and a law degree from Harvard capped by a master's degree in a PhD in international relations from the University of Oxford It is my pleasure to introduce John Torchari to call the names of our graduating students John. I'd like to begin by welcoming the PhD graduates from the class of 2013 First we have Emily Allison beam She'll be hooded by professor Rebecca Thornton And the title of her dissertation is information and labor markets in the Philippines Next I'd like to invite Robert garlic who will be hooded by professor John DiNardo The title of Robert's dissertation is essays in development economics and econometrics Our third PhD graduate is Susan Godlinton Susan will also be hooded by professor Rebecca Thornton The title of Susan's dissertation is three essays on employee and job trainee behavior Experimental evidence from Malawi Next I'd like to welcome Daniel Patrick Murphy to the stage Daniel will be hooded by professor Alan Dierdorf The title of Daniel's dissertation is modeling demand in international and macroeconomics And finally I'd like to invite to the stage LaFleur Nadia Stevens She'll be hooded by professor Vincent Hutchins The title of her dissertation is the effectiveness of implicit and explicit racial appeals in a post-racial America Congratulations to all of our 2013 PhD graduates I'd now like to introduce to you the members of the 2013 graduating class for the degree of masters of public policy and public administration first Komal Agrawal Haven K. Allen Nita Avalos Adam Bessenti Pooja N. Botte Andrew Robert Brecken Erica Brown Adrienne Hooper Call David M. Clark Peter W. Coates Rachel Commons Monica Cox Adam Grant Dewey Catherine M. Ditzler Ali Ersoy Vanita Leah Falcao Alexander A. Farivar Matthew Roy Filter Kimberly Foley Marissa Fortuna Lauren Elizabeth Frohlich Sandra Garcia Veronica Gonzalez-Stuva Christina Jane Hodge Catherine Hall Christine T. Hartman Yuko Higashitani Sarah E. Himes Yuki Ichihara Kauru Iida Cree Lane Jones Naomi Joseph Sunil Joy Dawn Lynn Keiser Vanessa Lynn Karjenian Jeffrey L. Kessner Chad Kiewski Andrew Kim Mackenzie Lynn Noling Jonathan Krasnoff Chicheng Li Samantha J. Lopez Satoshi Maruta Nina S. Maturu Caroline Johnson Meehan Shigeharu Minakawa Shigeharu Minakawa Keisuke Mizunoura Matthew Evan Modes Alma Esperanza Mordano Sijin Silvia O. Naohito Okazue Jessica Marie Olpair Hyun Park Katie Jean Perot Catherine Picard Jennani Ramachandran Marisol Ramos Sijin Silvia O. Naohito Okazue Jessica Marie Olpair Marisol Ramos Cynthia Rathinasami Brendan Reardon Andrew Ridgway Christina Toshiva Ridgway Jacob Roeberry Brian Christopher Runyon Richard Scott Kanika D. Shields Palavi Shukla Belinda Sirha Catherine Kirby Smith Nathaniel Smith Jiyeon Song Karen Cullen Spangler Sarah O'Brien Stevens Ruth Elizabeth Tabak Hiroyuki Tahara Renee Tetrick Zoe L. Thill Ingrid Schuster Tai Peter Tomasulo Daniel Truman Maharshi Vaishnav Katherine Valle Joshua Vermette Raeva Virjinkar CeCe Vu Allison N. Weaver Yuting Tina Wei Ebony Joy Wells Patricia Josephine Yingqi Wang Jessica Whirl Michiaki Yamada Michael Yates William Peter Yates Sokompanya Yu Katherine Valle Joshua Vermette Raeva Virjinkar Yates Sokompanya Yu Stephanie Zamorano Sarah A. Rola Zarate and Aili Jo. Congratulations to the MPP Class of 2013. I'd like now to introduce to you the BA graduates from the Ford School for 2013, beginning with Ryan Wolfe Allison Michael Ambler Lydia Stewart Austin Zachary Gordon Berkson Bethany Byron Michael Bloom Bridget Day Callahan Monica Gabriela Cersuela Holly Chuang Forrest Cox Eli Day Rohan Krishnandaran Daniel Lee Dixon Jeffrey Goldstein Uck Grosso Michael Geisinger Dylan Handelsman Jennifer Lynn Hoag Ryan Issaco Michael Jacobson Alexander Lazoff Gabrielle LaFleur Samuel Johnson Lewis Joseph Lichterman Elise McGrath Daniel James McCurr Jr. Matthew Scott Arturo Mejia Jordan A. Messner Marianne Myers Evan Thornton Nichols Leah Wollett Gabriel Ari Pachter Oriole Peppermaster Devin Parsons Zachary John Pillow Petrone Franklin Ryan Quinn Daniel Luke Ravitz Jennifer Romberg Jennifer Nicole Rodder William Matheson Scheffer Daniel R. R. William Matheson Scheffer Shalvinder Kaur Sira Andy Schaefer Julie Scherbil Lindsay Singer Loregg Staphanian Alexandra Sweeney Sabina Tarnufka Daniel Tempkin Caroline Titan Aisha Usmani Madeline Grace Wager Elizabeth Wildberg Simon A. Wennet Abigail Williams and Benjamin Zukowski. Graduates, would you please stand and face your guests in the audience? And now I would like all of the BA students at this time, please, if you would move your tassel on your mortarboard from the right to the left. I'm so proud to introduce and present to you the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy's classes of 2013. Congratulations, graduates. Congratulations. Thank you. Well, at this point, I would like to thank all of you for joining us here for our commencement ceremony. I'll ask that you remain seated until the class has exited. We have some light refreshments in the lobby and I hope that you will stay and enjoy the company and the refreshments and some photographs and I hope to greet a number of you in the lobby. Again, thank you and congratulations to our classes of 2013.