LYNDON B. JOHNSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
_______________________________________________________________________________ James B. Steinberg, Dean P.O. Box Y • Austin, Texas 78713-8925 • (512) 471-3200 • FAX (512) 471-4697
March 1, 2006 Dear Graduates of the LBJ School: This is the first of what I hope is regular communication between the School and our alumni. Coming to Austin, and to the LBJ School, has been a very exciting experience for me and my family, and we have been grateful for all the support that we have received thus far from all the parts of the LBJ School family—students, faculty, staff and alumni. Throughout its history, the LBJ School has a remarkable tradition of upholding the finest values of public service, through its inter-related missions of professional training, policy research and public education. I feel honored and privileged to have the opportunity to build on this tradition, as the School, our community, our nation and the world take on the challenges of the 21st century. While the basic mission of the School remains constant, it is vital that we continue to assess how best to carry out that mission in the context of a world characterized by rapid change. It is particularly important for a School that is focused on public policy and public affairs to be "ahead of the curve" in understanding the forces of change and how policy and policymakers—in the public and private sectors—must adapt to take account of those changes. The last twelve months have been an important period in the evolution of the LBJ School. Under the able and dynamic leadership of Dean Inman, the School has taken important steps forward. Our curriculum reform will offer students the opportunity to specialize in one of several key public policy areas: international affairs; urban and state affairs; social and economic policy; technology, innovation and information policy; public management and leadership; non-profit and philanthropic studies; and natural resources and the environment—while retaining the option of a generalist program for those whose needs are best served by this approach. We are in the process of creating two new centers. The first, focused on national security and law, will be a joint effort involving the LBJ School, the Law School and the College of Liberal Arts. This Center, which we plan to name in honor of Ambassador Robert Strauss (subject to approval of the Board of Regents), will be an important element of our efforts to bring a broader international perspective to our teaching and research. The second center will focus on politics and governance, a particularly compelling need at a time when there is a growing loss of public confidence in many of our basic political institutions and processes. Under the leadership of Ken Apfel, we are working to flesh out and enhance our Center on Health and Social Policy. We are fortunate to have a number of new faculty members who have joined us this year: Peter Frumkin, who is directing the RGK Center on Philanthropy and Community Service; Eugene Gholz, Alan Kuperman and Shreyasi Jha, who are providing new energy and leadership as we expand our international policy research and teaching; and Cynthia Osborne, who is doing exciting work on family policy and poverty. We are also delighted that Frank Gavin, our
Graduates of the LBJ School March 1, 2006 Page Two distinguished diplomatic historian who is playing an instrumental role in helping to create the new Center on National Security and Law, was granted tenure this year. Over the coming months, I intend to begin a broad-ranging strategic planning process for the School, to help us chart our goals and priorities for the coming five to seven years. During this process, I plan to consult closely with all the School’s stakeholders—faculty, students, staff, alumni, potential students and employers, and the broader public policy community—to seek the best ideas of what we are doing right and what we can do better. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by four of my distinguished predecessors; Ed Dorn, Max Sherman and Elspeth Rostow, as well as Dean Inman, whose wisdom and experience will be invaluable to this effort. You as alumni have a critical role to play in this process, both as former students and as practitioners, and I intend to consult with you closely as we go forward. More broadly, I hope to energize the relationship between the alumni and the School. You are an invaluable resource for us—for finding promising students, identifying internships and job opportunities (both for current students and other alumni), for providing an interested but dispassionate look at how we are doing—and yes, for financial support. I know that many of you have helped organize alumni chapters in your home cities, and have provided the school with much appreciated support. We will be looking for better ways to communicate with you and to seek your input. Our new Assistant Dean for Operations, Jeff Patterson, will contact you soon to begin that process by describing some of the ways we hope to improve the flow of communication between you and the School—as well as between alumni. I’ve had the good fortune to meet with several of you already, both as part of the process of coming to the LBJ School and since I’ve arrived. I hope over the coming months to meet many more of you in person, and to hear from you, by email, letter or phone on any topic related to the School. I encourage you to come and visit with us if you can, to share your experiences and insights and to see for yourselves some of the new initiatives and meet the new members of our community. Best wishes to you and your families,
James B. Steinberg