The La Follette community is excited to welcome 30 Master of Public Affairs and seven Master of International Public Affairs students this fall. These incoming students bring a variety of backgrounds, specialties, and perspectives to the master’s programs. Incoming students join the program from eight different states and six countries. Learn more about the backgrounds and policy interests of the incoming class below and by reading the incoming student bios (pdf).
Mohammad Eshaghi
Mohammad Eshaghi is an incoming MPA student at the La Follette School with a background in economics. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Bonn University in Germany and completed his undergraduate studies in Iran, where he also minored in energy economics. Eshagi has diverse experience in the AI, finance, and oil and gas industries, having worked in both the public and private sectors. His roles have included economic analyst, economic researcher, and procurement assistant. He is joining the La Follette School to learn the art of policymaking with a focus on energy analysis. During his undergraduate years, he served as president of the economics student association, dedicated to empowering undergraduates and engaging them in academic activities.
Ian Jamison
Ian Jamison is an incoming graduate student pursuing an MPA and a Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning. He received a bachelor of arts in political science and economics from UW–Madison and spent 10 years as a project manager in healthcare IT, managing software installs in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and across the U.S. In his free time, Jamison leads Madison is for People, a group working to address Madison’s housing crisis. His policy interests include inequality, and creating sustainable, equitable, thriving neighborhoods.
Anna Kane
Anna Kane is an incoming MPA student originally from Viroqua, Wisconsin. She graduated from Yale University in 2021 with a degree in American studies, concentrating in politics and American communities and earning distinction in the major. As an undergraduate, Anna was a research assistant at the Yale Institution for Social and Policy Studies and the Yale Child Study Center. Since graduating, Kane has taught English at a public high school in Baltimore. She is interested in the intersection of education policy and broader social policy and is passionate about interventions that will improve the outcomes and experiences of low-income and otherwise marginalized children.
Dua Ci Khang
Dua Ci Khang is an incoming MPA student with an interest in social and international policy. She graduated from UW-Eau Claire with a bachelor of arts degree in secondary education and a critical Hmong studies certificate. For the past few years, she has worked in building professional development programming in higher education and in dismantling racial bias in the public education system in educator training services. As a daughter of refugees, she brings a lens of community, care, and justice to this work. Khang’s goal is to sharpen her skills in policy analysis to effectively advocate for all communities, especially those that are most marginalized.
James Murphy
James Murphy is an incoming MIPA student from Combined Locks, Wisconsin. Murphy attended undergrad at Western Michigan University, majoring in aviation flight science with minors in general business and global & international studies, and planned to pursue a career as a professional pilot. Since graduation, he has been employed at Air Wisconsin Airlines, a regional airline partnered with American Airlines. After an international volunteer trip to Croatia and experiencing international nonprofit work, Murphy decided to expand on his global and international studies minor and pursue a MIPA degree. He is interested in international education policy, particularly getting high school and college students involved in study abroad programs and international nonprofit work.
Connor Smith
Connor Smith is a lifelong Madisonian and an incoming MPA student. His primary policy goal has long been to preserve and strengthen democratic institutions and norms in the U.S. and abroad, and policy areas like voter access, protection of free speech, and government ethics are ones in which he is highly interested. Smith is also interested in education, veterans’ protections, and climate change (including energy policy). He holds dual citizenship in America and Estonia. After graduating, Smith hopes to either move to Estonia for a few years and work in government there or become a legislative staffer for a state or federal lawmaker in the U.S.
The new students will join 41 students who are continuing in the MPA program and 15 students continuing in the MIPA program.