Thanks to a generous donation to the La Follette School, students can compete for a $250 prize for the best paper in the area of science and public policy. Professors teaching La Follette School courses in 2008-09 can nominate a paper (which can be co-authored) and a selection committee will make the award at the end of the academic year.

Because Maria Serakos wants her research to make a difference in public policy, she is pursuing a Master of Public Affairs degree at the La Follette School before she goes on to a Ph.D. program.

Addison Smith has found a way to bring together his diverse interests: a dual degree in international public affairs and law with a career goal of working in international copyright law.

Since 2005, almost 40 students have benefitted from Mark Stone’s generous donations to the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Stone, who lives in Illinois, has given several gifts to the La Follette School over the past 10 years to help graduate students gain the skills needed to improve the lives of people in the United States through public service.

Second-year student Sam Shannon has received the Bunn Distinguished Graduate Fellowship from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies for the 2012-13 academic year.

Five students are heading to Ohio State University to compete in the regional of a national public affairs competition March 1-2 — after they present their strategies for combating childhood obesity on Thursday, February 28, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the La Follette School conference room.

Contributions from alumni and friends of the La Follette School are helping two students focus their public affairs careers on energy analysis and health-care management.

Rob Stupar turned to public policy for graduate school because no matter which professional field he considered as an undergraduate, he felt that there was no better way to help solve national problems than through public policy.

La Follette student Colin Higgins has been named a recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship.

After years of working as an outside observer with peripheral influence, Matt van Buren decided to involve himself more deeply in the policymaking process. The former journalist and political fund-raiser is in his second semester at the La Follette School, exploring public management and nonprofit leadership in addition to the school's core courses in microeconomics and statistics.