Summer 2011 - Heller School for Social Policy and Management ...

Brandeis UniversityThe Heller School for Social Policy and ManagementHeller Commencement Speaker Judge Nancy Gertner with Dean Lynch and Heller FacultySummer 2011Dear Friends,Each semester as I sort through what tocommunicate about the many events andachievements that have occurred at Heller, it givesme pause as there are so many from which tochoose. Commencement, as always, was one of thehighlights of the year. Not only was it a big day forthe 180 student graduates but also for all of us whohave had the opportunity to work with them duringtheir studies at Heller. This ritual never ceases toaffect us no matter how many times we participatein it. Watching how families, friends, and guestssee the collective student body of the Heller Schoolfor the first time, we are reminded of what wesometimes take for granted. The mix of origins, ethnicities, cultures, and studies of our graduates is stunning andas they walk off the stage, diplomas in hand, we look forward to seeing how they will change the world.Many faculty, researchers, and students spent a good deal of the spring term interviewing candidates for fivefaculty positions at Heller. I look forward to welcoming on campus late this summer Alain Lempereur, who willbecome the inaugural Alan B. Slifka Chair in Coexistence and Conflict. Alain, who is an internationallyrecognized leader in mediation and conflict resolution, joins us from the ESSEC Business School in Paris. He willalso become the new program director for the Master of Arts in Coexistence and Conflict. In January 2012Dolores Acevedo-García will join the faculty at Heller as the Samuel F. and Rose B. Gingold Professor ofHuman Development and Social Policy and director of the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy. Doloresis a distinguished scholar whose current work focuses on racial and ethnic disparities in the health of children andis being funded by the Kellogg Foundation. Finally, Rajesh Sampath, who has been the Feldman EngagedScholar and a visiting lecturer at Heller, will now be our new Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Justice, Rights,and Social Change. We will continue the search processes for additional faculty in the upcoming academic year.Mailstop 035 781-736-3800P.O. Box 549110781-736-3881 FAXWaltham, Massachusetts http://heller.brandeis.edu02454-9110

Early this summer we also completed a year-long review of our academic programs and research enterprise andproduced a strategic vision that will help guide us over the next five years. Now that the entire school is finallyphysically housed in the same complex, there has been increased integration of school activities – a major goal ofthe last strategic plan of 2004. But the moment has arrived when we need to invest in our future to ensure thecontinued excellence of our academic programs and impact of our research. To this end, three overarchingchallenges became the focus of our strategicplan:How to build on existing strengths andenhance depth in selected areas tosharpen the school’s academiccapabilities and research impact.How to advance permeable boundariesacross educational programs andresearch centers and institutes.How to achieve greater racial and ethnicdiversity among the faculty, staff, andstudent body.I look forward to working with all members ofthe Heller community and the new Universityleadership of President Frederick Lawrence andProvost-elect Steve Goldstein to realize theobjectives of this new plan.Dean Lynch joins graduating students in planting a tree outsidethe Zinner Forum. The tree was a gift to Heller from theMA-SID and MS classes of 2011.HELLER FACULTY AND RESEARCHER ACHIEVEMENTSSusan ParishWhile every Heller faculty member works hard to provide avaluable learning experience for our students, every year ourstudents have the opportunity to honor two faculty members inrecognition of their distinguished teaching and mentoringsupport. For excellence in fostering excitement about learning,stimulating intellectual curiosity, and challenging and inspiringstudents to become engaged citizens of the world, Susan Parish,the Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Disability Policy, receivedthe 2011 Heller Teaching Award. For outstanding support andencouragement of the research, education, and professional andpersonal development of Heller students, Susan Holcombe,Professor of the Practice, received the 2011 Heller Mentoring Award. Finally, the Brandeis InternationalBusiness School, where Brenda Anderson, director of the Heller MBA Program, is also a Senior Lecturer,awarded her its Teaching Award.Christine Bishop, the Atran Professor of Labor Economics, was appointed to the Institute of MedicineCommittee on the Mental Health Workforce for Geriatric Populations. Susan Parish was appointed to theboard of the Arc of Massachusetts and Claudia Jacobs ’70, Associate Director of the Sillerman Center for theAdvancement of Philanthropy, was elected to the board of Associated Grantmakers of Boston. Professor AnitaHill delivered the keynote address at YWCA Boston’s 17th Annual Academy of Women Achievers luncheonin June.Dominic Hodgkin, Associate Professor; Elizabeth Merrick, PhD ’98, Senior Scientist and Lecturer; ConstanceHorgan, Professor and Associate Dean for Research; and colleagues received the Excellence in Mental HealthPolicy and Economics Research Award for 2009/2010 for a recent article in the Journal of Mental HealthPolicy and Economics. Professor Donald Shepard was chosen as guest editor of the latest issue of the DengueBulletin, published by the World Health Organization. The volume contains seven original studies co-authored byHeller researchers, including Marion Howard, Senior Lecturer; Clare Hurley, MM ’05; Jose Suaya, PhD ’06;and Yara Halasa, MS ’06.2SusanHolcombe

The 2011 Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse Executive Board and WorkshopReview Committee has chosen “Talking with Pictures: Concepts and Hands-on Experience,” a workshoppresented by Laura Lorenz, PhD ’08, Senior Research Associate and Lecturer, for its 2010 Best WorkshopAward.Congratulations to Professor Jon Chilingerian, who received the Myron Fottler Service tothe Profession Award from the Academy of Management. This award is considered by manyto be the most distinguished award given by the Health Care Management Division of theAcademy of Management. It is not an annual award; rather, it is given only when the Divisionidentifies a deserving nominee.JonChilingerianHeller welcomes a new research collaborative led by Professor Jody Hoffer Gittell, called theRelational Coordination Research Collaborative (RCRC). Gittell’s research focuses ondeveloping and testing interventional models of organizational change that transformorganizations for the benefit of their stakeholders. RCRC will be located within the SchneiderInstitutes for Health Policy.The Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and the Center for Youth and Communitieswere chosen to be the secretariat to coordinate the Corporate Coalition to End Hunger. Their work will befunded by the corporations in the Coalition to help bring analysis, evaluation and organization to over $2 billionin philanthropic assistance directed at ending hunger in the U.S.HELLER STUDENTSOur students do not wait until graduation to receive accolades and affirmations. Forexample, Clifton Chow, a PhD candidate, published a chapter in the Handbook ofHealthcare Delivery Systems. Doctoral student Eduardo Undurraga, along with ProfessorRicardo Godoy, published articles about their work in Bolivia in a number of journals,including Medical Anthropology Quarterly and Animal Conservation.Heather McMann, an MBA student, was interviewed by National Public Radio and theBoston Globe about her work with Groundwork Lawrence, a nonprofit working to increaseaccess to healthy food in low-income areas; and Ross Lohr, a Heller MBA/MA studentwho co-founded a clothing company called Project Repat, was featured in the June 2011issue of Boston Magazine as well as being interviewed by Fox News. The company“repatriates” secondhand clothing from Africa and sells it to support nonprofit organizationsin the United States. Marcela (Guachamin) Trask, MA-SID ’11, and Adam Rosenberg, MA-COEX/SID ’11,were featured in a Boston Globe article profiling former Peace Corps volunteers.Sarah Janes, an MA-SID student, was selected to be a fellow of the Brandeis-IndiaInitiative and will conduct her second-year practicum in Assam, a rural state in northeastIndia bordering Bhutan and Bangladesh. In June, PhD student Cynthia Tschampl wasawarded the Charles DeGraw National Tuberculosis Advocacy Award from theNational Tuberculosis Controllers Association. This award recognizes an individual ororganization that has made an outstanding effort or achievement in advocating for increasedsupport and recognition of tuberculosis control and prevention efforts.HELLER IN THE MEDIACynthiaTschamplStuart Altman and Michael Doonan, PhD ’02, continue to be called upon to comment on the nation’s newhealth care plan vis à vis their experience in the development of universal health care in Massachusetts. C-SPANquoted Professor Doonan, while Professor Altman offered his perspective in the Boston Herald.3

Joan Kaufman was quoted in articles in the Wall Street Journal and the Economist aboutChina’s one-child policy. Dr. Kaufman is among a group of critics who feel the policy shouldbe revisited.The New York Times turned to Laurence Simon for his comments on Google andphilanthropy. Professor Simon spent time on sabbatical leave at Google.org, the nonprofitarm of the Internet giant.I often have the opportunity to offer commentary on National Public Radio and the PBSNewsHour. The ongoing weakness in the labor market as the economy recovers from theLaurence Simonworst recession since the Great Depression has meant that the monthly employment reportsreleased by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are being scrutinized much more. I am glad that I am able to weigh inon these reports and try to highlight trends and areas of concern in these reports. As a greater share of theunemployed remain out of work for six months or more, the work done at Heller on assets, health, and jobtraining is as important as ever to those formulating policies to support the workforce.HELLER EVENTSOur learning community is enriched by the number of intellectual events and debates that allow students to seethings from different perspectives, to engage and to learn across degree programs. These serve not only asenrichment, but also as real world exposure to leaders and organizations external to Heller. This past semester wewere lucky to have Elyse Cherry, CEO of Boston Community Capital, who spoke on “Using the Master’s Toolsto Create Social Change: The Revolutionary Views of Mahatma Gandhi and Audre Lorde as They Apply to theChallenges Facing Low-Income Communities” at this year’s Distinguished Management Lecture. Cherrydiscussed her organization’s strategies and its groundbreaking foreclosure relief initiative.Over 100 alumni, friends, and colleagues attended “Social Policy Across the Lifespan: A MemorialConference in Tribute to the Careers of Heller Professors James J. Callahan, Jr., PhD ’68 and LorraineVogel Klerman” in mid-April. Their careers in child and family policy, mental health and aging were honored bypresentations and keynotes on the issues to which Callahan and Klerman devoted their lives. It was a chance toboth mourn collectively and pay tribute to their achievements.Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Adviser toPresident Obama, delivered the Eli J. Segal ’64Citizen Leadership Lecture in March. The lecture ispart of the Segal Citizen Leadership Program whichincludes paid summer internships for Brandeisundergraduates and Heller MPP students, as well asmembership in a lifelong alumni network of programparticipants and founders. Eli Segal ’64 was amember of the Heller Board of Overseers until hisdeath.Provost Marty Krauss, Dean Lynch, Phyllis Segal,Melody Barnes, and President Frederick LawrenceEli’s widow, Phyllis Segal, a member of Heller’sBoard of Overseers, and the Heller School itself werehonored by the Massachusetts Service Alliance for“elevating service in the Commonwealth.” In keepingwith the similar missions of organizations such asAmeriCorps, City Year, and the Peace Corps, theHeller School now offers special scholarships foralumni of these organizations.4

In March Heller celebrated the 50 th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps with a special event featuringkeynote speaker Peter Redmond, Deputy Associate Director for Peace Corps Global Operations.Internally, the “Tuesday Talks” series continued its inaugural year during the spring semester, showcasing thework of Heller faculty and researchers. Mari Fitzduff delivered the February talk, “IsThere a Resolution to Conflict?” Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson ’80, PhD ’96, followed inMarch with “The Intersections of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Health Research andPolicy.” Mary Jo Larson, PhD ’92, wrapped up the series in April with “Conceptualizingthe Effects of War and the Nation’s Health Care Response.” Tuesday Talks continues inthe fall. Thomas Shapiro, the Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy, will kick offthe 2011/2012 series. Shapiro has just returned from a sabbatical spent in South Africa atthe University of Cape Town’s Institute of Social Science Policy as a Fulbright 2011Scholar. During his time in South Africa, Professor Shapiro focused on legal and policymandates concerning wealth distribution and race, with particular emphasis on theThomas Shapiro challenges of land reform in the citrus industry in the context of globalization.As I begin my fourth year as Dean, there is much to look forward to that I will share as the fall semester comes toa close. I appreciate your continued interest in Heller and support.With warm regards,Lisa M. LynchDean and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy5