Ford School News

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News

The Irony of a Climate Change Conference: COP26

Dec 15, 2021

Natasha's trip to COP26 was funded with an STPP Career Development Grant. Learn more about the grant here. By Natasha Dacic I recently had the opportunity to travel to COP26 as a member of the University of Michigan’s Delegation. What an...

News

Parthasarathy calls for people-centric health innovation

Dec 13, 2021

Government investment and encouragement of innovation needs to expand its scope to consider the social and economic effects on marginalized groups. In a paper published by The Next System Project, Ford School public policy professor Shobita...

Parthasarathy: ChatGPT reinforces human biases

In the Media

Green explains relationship between pandemic and government surveillance

Dec 9, 2021 Los Angeles Times

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed governments to roll out higher surveillance systems without pushback from citizens. Such emergencies “can be moments where governments roll out new invasive forms of data collection and it just becomes the...

Using algorithms in government: Opportunities, challenges, and paths forward

News

STPP Student Elana Goldenkoff Helps With Michigan Voter Redistricting

Dec 7, 2021

By Elana Goldenkoff I had assumed there was a technical solution to gerrymandering. I figured there surely existed an algorithm or statistical method for drawing equally populated districts that were fair and non-partisan. I thought the process...

News

Lawmakers seek out U-M faculty for expertise on various topics

Dec 1, 2021

Federal lawmakers continue to seek out University of Michigan faculty members to lend their expertise and knowledge to help inform federal policy. In the last year, 13 U-M faculty members and researchers testified at 14 congressional hearings...

Alumni spotlight

STPP alum Aaron Kurz describes his experience with the job market and applying for the California Council on Science and Technology Fellowship

Nov 10, 2021

Aaron Kurz, Earth and Environmental Sciences Ph.D. and STPP Certificate '21, is an energy and environmental consultant. Finding a job out of graduate studies is not an easy task. I spent almost 6 months over which I applied to 40+ positions, the...

In the Media

More emphasis needed on vaccine accessibility, overcoming institutional mistrust—Parthasarathy

Nov 5, 2021 MLive

Speaking with MLive, Shobita Parthasarathy observed the complexities behind vaccine hesitancy. “We’re letting social institutions, government institutions off the hook the more that we focus on the individual as the source of the hesitancy,” she...

Parthasarathy discusses implications of Large Language Models

News

Expanding participation in science and technology policy through civil society partnerships

Nov 4, 2021

A grant from the Ford Foundation will facilitate consultation, research, and implementation solutions with community organizations to promote science and technology for the public good. Technology has the power to transform lives for the better...

Expanding participation in science and technology policy through civil society partnerships

News

Ford School represented in U-M student delegation at COP26

Nov 4, 2021

University of Michigan graduate students and their faculty adviser are attending the two-week COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The students will observe the negotiations, attend side events and interact with various experts. U-M has sent...

Ford School represented in U-M student delegation at COP26

News

Lin discusses increased surveillance on faculty of Chinese heritage

Oct 29, 2021

The Department of Justice's China Initiative was launched in 2018 to reduce theft of U.S. intellectual property funded by the government. A recent survey by the U-M Association of Chinese Professors (UM-ACP) found an increased sense of worry over...

Lin discusses increased surveillance on faculty of Chinese heritage

News

Off the field, University of Michigan and Michigan State University work together on the big issues

Oct 28, 2021

When Michigan’s Independent Citizens’ Redistricting Commission (MICRC) held a public hearing recently in Grand Rapids, two students were assisting attendees with submitting citizen comments and suggestions for the Commission’s consideration. Working...

Off the field, University of Michigan and Michigan State University work together on the big issues

News

STPP Faculty Affiliate Todd Allen testifies before House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee

Oct 21, 2021

On Thursday, October 21st, STPP faculty affiliate Dr. Todd Allen, Director, Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project and Glenn F. and Gladys H. Knoll Department Chair of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences testified before the House Committee on...

News

Jacob and Parthasarathy receive prestigious University awards

Oct 11, 2021

Brian Jacob and Shobita Parthasarathy have been recognized by the University of Michigan Provost for their scholarly contributions, teaching, and service to the University. They will be honored with other faculty members at a dinner and ceremony on...

Jacob and Parthasarathy receive prestigious University awards

In the Media

Parthasarathy on the racial reckoning in science and medicine

Oct 4, 2021 AP News

The family of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells have been used to develop numerous scientific and medical innovations, is suing a biotechnology company for selling her cells. Shobita Parthasarathy provided insight into the lawsuit. “We are...

The politics of inclusive innovation in international development: Menstrual hygiene management and sanitary pads in India

In the Media

Human oversight of automated decision-making doesn't work, says Green

Sep 28, 2021 Protocol

Commenting on his recent research, Ben Green told Protocol, “The point is not to say: Let's just allow these algorithms to be used without the human oversight. But if we're only comfortable with these algorithms because we have human oversight, we...

News

Green calls for increased regulation with government use of algorithms

Sep 22, 2021

Do algorithms help or hinder human decision-making? In a recent op-ed for The Hill, Ben Green, an assistant professor and postdoctoral scholar, argues that policymakers need to consider how humans interact with AI when regulating the use of AI in...

Publication

Should complex, high-stakes government decisions be reliant on predictive algorithms?

Aug 27, 2021

Machine learning is increasingly used for government decision-making to predict adverse outcomes. For instance, many cities and states in the U.S. have adopted pretrial risk assessments that inform decisions about whether to release criminal...

News

Ford School research center websites get a fresh new look

Aug 27, 2021

Seven of the Ford School’s dynamic research centers have launched new websites. Building on the Ford School’s own modern web design and technical capabilities, the new websites convey the energy and innovation of each center. Participating research...

Ford School research center websites get a fresh new look

Alumni spotlight

STPP alum Michelle Brechtelsbauer (MPP '16) works to impact zero-carbon energy

Aug 18, 2021

Michelle Brechtelsbauer (MPP '16) interrupted her government service to obtain her Ford School Master of Public Policy and the Science, Technology, & Public Policy Graduate Certificate Program. Now in the private sector, at the Energy Impact Center,...

STPP alum Michelle Brechtelsbauer (MPP '16) works to impact zero-carbon energy

Alumni spotlight

Esha Mathew (PhD, STPP '15) combines science and technology with diplomacy

Aug 18, 2021

Esha Mathew (PhD '15 - Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology) is a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation at the U.S. State Department. Previously she was a Science and Technology Fellow with the American...

In the Media

Parthasarathy calls for legislative action on privacy

Aug 11, 2021 MLive

As police increasingly use social media for surveillance and monitoring, Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, calls for legislative action to protect citizens' online...

Parthasarathy named to prestigious French council

In the Media

Parthasarathy discusses bias of facial recognition technology

Aug 5, 2021 MLive

The ethics surrounding the use of facial recognition technology are under increasing scrutiny as more law enforcement agencies utilize it. Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy...

News

Equity considerations must be an integral part of energy research and development, Parthasarathy tells Congressional committee

Jul 16, 2021

"We are not accustomed to thinking about equity in the context of innovation. But in recent years, we have begun to recognize that marginalized communities (including those who are low-income and those who come from historically disadvantaged...

Equity considerations must be an integral part of energy research and development, Parthasarathy tells Congressional committee

In the Media

Parthasarathy facial recognition study in focus on Detroit Public TV

Jun 24, 2021 DPTV One Detroit

Detroit Public TV's One Detroit program looked at the racial disparities inherent in law enforcement's use of facial recognition technology, making reference to a study published in August 2020 by the Ford School's Shobita Parthasarathy. "We have...

Parthasarathy facial recognition study in focus on Detroit Public TV

News

Green takes a look at tech ethics

Jun 15, 2021

Technology companies have been at the center of many public controversies recently—from hacking threats and data security to fake news and manipulating algorithms. Do the ethics of technological advancement—"tech ethics"—have any influence on the...

In the Media

Rabe evaluates Biden's climate policy

Jun 15, 2021 The Christian Science Monitor

While President Biden has shown a lot of initiative for climate policy in the first months of his term, many scholars say something is missing: a carbon tax. Barry Rabe, the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy, provided an...

News

STPP wins grant to explore Large Language Models

Jun 11, 2021

Large Language Models (LLM) — machine learning algorithms that can recognize, predict, and generate human languages on the basis of very large text-based data sets — have captured the imagination of scientists, entrepreneurs, and tech-watchers....

STPP gift to expand educational opportunities for undergraduates

State & Hill

Breaking down public trust

Jun 10, 2021

By Rebecca Cohen (MPP '09) Americans’ trust in government institutions to “do the right thing” has steadily eroded since the late 1960s,1 correlated for many analysts with events such as the Vietnam War, Watergate, the ’70s oil embargo, and...

News

‘Transportation is a form of freedom’: How to make it more equitable

Jun 9, 2021

The routes and schedules of public transit, the presence or absence of sidewalks, the availability of different transportation options, and the design of highways that have divided cities—these are examples of aspects of transportation systems that...

‘Transportation is a form of freedom’: How to make it more equitable

In the Media

Parthasarathy weighs in on connections between immunizations and leadership

Jun 7, 2021 MLive

According to MLive, 100% of Michigan Senate Democrats and 71% of Michigan House Democrats have received the COVID-19 vaccine. On the other hand, 30% of Michigan Senate Republicans and 17% of Michigan House Republicans are immunized. These numbers...

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