We welcomed Cassidy R. Sugimoto as the Tom and Marie Patton School Chair this year. We also hosted several expert panels – the Climate and Energy Policy Laboratory facilitated the Georgia conversation of the event Solve Climate by 2030, the School teamed up with Drawdown Georgia to discuss the Biden Administration’s climate change and clean energy priorities, and data scientists from around the country gathered to discuss mitigating algorithmic bias. We also continued our Meg and Sam Flax Lecture Series with “Research to Action: Three Climate Solutions for Georgia,” featuring some of our graduate students and recent alumni.

Members of the SPP community were featured in publications such as NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, WalletHub, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The School and its members both presented and received awards this year. Marilyn Brown, Regents Professor and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems, won the World Citizen Prize in Environmental Performance Award from the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. The Data Science and Policy lab – helmed by Assistant Professor Omar Asensio – won a bid from the State Department’s Diplomacy Lab to research how AI can be used to accelerate adopting green energy. Finally, the Law, Science, and Technology program launched the inaugural Van Aacken Awards to help aspiring law school students offset the costs of applying.

We were also incredibly proud to award nearly 50 degrees this year across our bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. programs in the spring and fall Commencement ceremonies.

Finally, it was another banner year for SPP research. Our faculty landed articles in Nature, Economic Inquiry, and Applied Energy, among others. More research is highlighted below.

Our top ten news stories from the year were:

1. Ivan Allen College Faculty Provide Insight on What to Expect from the Biden Administration
2. Ivan Allen College Announces New Executive Leadership Team
3. Ivan Allen College Selects Cassidy Sugimoto to Lead the School of Public Policy
4. National Academy Publishes Study Showing How Georgia Could Halve its Carbon Footprint
5. School of Public Policy Study Shows Artificial Intelligence Can Beat Human Experts in Discovering Attitudes on Electric Vehicle Charging
6. 'Rebuilding the Civic Square' Panel Discussion Puts Focus on Importance of Quality Discourse
7. New Public Policy Class Examines Building Equitable Cities through Urban Policy
8. 5 Questions on Voting with Richard Barke
9. Georgia Tech Study Finds More SNAP Retailers in Rural Areas Lowers Rates of Child Maltreatment
10. Meet School of Public Policy Chair Cassidy Sugimoto

The School of Public Policy wishes everyone a happy and safe new year and looks forward to continuing to work in 2022.