Professor of Public Affairs and Sociology
Director, Center for Demography of Health and Aging
Director, WiscRDC

A degree from La Follette is extremely versatile and well-regarded.

Three years in Japan gave Rachel Johnson such intriguing insight into domestic social policy that now she is exploring U.S. domestic policy by earning a Master of Public Affairs degree at the La Follette School.

Twelve scholars from across the United States participated in a week-long intensive workshop in June hosted by UW–Madison’s Center for Financial Security Retirement and Disability Research Center with support from Howard University’s Center on Race and Wealth.

Empathy in action — caring about other people and acting to help them in some way — draws Lacee Koplin to public service. "I volunteered at my local food pantry a lot while I was growing up, and that got me interested in social issues in a hands-on sense, but I felt like there was so much more I could do," the public affairs student says.

The La Follette School of Public Affairs and Department of Political Science at UW–Madison along with the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) are hosting a series of Real Town Hall events in preparation for the 2018 midterm elections.  

The La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is ranked 13th among 272 graduate programs in public affairs, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 rankings. It also ranked in the top 12 for four specialty areas, including second in Social Policy.

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, the La Follette School of Public Affairs and Department of Political Science are partnering with the Wisconsin Alumni Association on a series of Real Town Hall discussions. The first, on the social impacts of COVID-19, is Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Sarah Stillman, a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2013, will discuss her current work during the fall 2017 Public Affairs Writer in Residence presentation, Crimmigration: Criminal Justice and Immigration in the U.S.

Katie Maguire-Jack (MPA ’06) and two colleagues received a $3 million grant to address substance abuse problems in Ohio. Maguire-Jack, who received her doctorate in social welfare from UW–Madison, is an assistant professor at The Ohio State University’s College of Social Work.