Heidi Normandin (MA ’98)
"The La Follette School gives you a well-rounded set of tools to approach public policy and public administration problems. Even at my first job, I felt equipped to handle whatever project came my way."
Inspiring evidence-based policymaking
"The La Follette School gives you a well-rounded set of tools to approach public policy and public administration problems. Even at my first job, I felt equipped to handle whatever project came my way."
"Use your time at the La Follette School to explore options and take a variety of electives to develop and apply skills and knowledge."
"Skills that I learned and gained in graduate school, I’ve used in the private sector as well as in the public sector. That includes quantitative analysis and strong writing skills, as well as the ability to interpret data and research findings and then translate them from academia into more plain language – this makes research and learning accessible across different audiences."
Hometown Wuhan, China Undergraduate education Double degree in social work (Central China Normal University) and finance (Wuhan University) Why the La Follette School? I was attracted to the La Follette School because of its expertise in social policy, small class size, flexible courses structure, and family-like atmosphere. Expected graduation date May 2019. In addition to …
"The abundance of networking opportunities has allowed me to speak with professionals about their careers to determine if it is something I might enjoy, and a few conversations I’ve had have resulted in internship offers."
The two transferable skills that the La Follette School trained me to embrace revolve around writing and data.
The rigorous nature of the school and the natural competition with students taught me what it would take to succeed and make a difference in a professional environment.
"I want to lead programs that bridge technology innovation from many different fields and utilize them to maximize the success of our neuroscience and health research endeavors."
"I was aware of the La Follette School’s glowing reputation and the high quality of public administration research conducted here, so I was particularly interested in learning from some true experts."
On a near daily basis, I am in meetings that relate to a real-world version of grad school group work. Whether it is assisting in development of a new citywide housing policy, compiling information on digital innovations, or coming up with ideas for #cityhallselfie day, much of the work I’m engaged in involves a deep level of communication and collaboration.