Alumni News

Brad Hawkins (MPA '01) was elected Representative of Washington state's 12th District in November 2012. The Republican represents all of Chelan and Douglas counties, about half of Okanogan County and small portions of Grant County in the Washington state legislature.

International Alumnus Datuk Thomas George (MPA '86) received the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration’s 2012 Public Service Award. For more than three decades, Datuk Thomas George has led a distinguished public service career. Mr. George served full terms as secretary general – the top civil service rank position in Malaysia – for both the Ministry of Works, which runs the country’s transportation infrastructure and public buildings, and the Ministry of Human Resources. He also served in high ranking positions at the National Institute of Public Administration, and he has authored books, journal articles and numerous papers on public management.

Heath Brown (Ph.D '05) recently published a new study on the politics of interest group influence during Presidential transitions. Brown used an innovative mixed methodology integrating a historical analysis of original documents, original interviews with over 40 interest group leaders and transition leaders, a survey of 300 interest groups and content analysis of 300 interest group letters. The publication is titled "Lobbying the New President: Interests in Transition" by Heath Brown. Routledge (2012)

The Trachtenberg School is pleased to announce that Jody L. Herman (Ph.D '10) will become the Manager of Transgender Research at the Williams Institute, at the UCLA School of Law. Jody holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from The Trachtenberg School.  She served as a co-author on the groundbreaking report Injustice at Every Turn, based on the National Transgender Discrimination Survey conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality. In this new role, Jody will lead the Williams Institute's research related to gender identity.

Chris Edwards, (MPA '96), entered the Republican primary race in January for a seat to represent Nevada’s 1st Congressional District, which spans most of Las Vegas, in the House of Representatives. (Read more here)

Nancy Potok, (PhD '09), was named associate director for demographic programs effective Feb. 6, 2012.  Dr. Potok is currently the Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Economics and Statistics Administration in the Department of Commerce.

Ben Page, (MPP ’05), was named special assistant in President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget Director’s Office in 2010.

After many years pursuing a successful career as an academic and researcher, Dr. Demetra Smith Nightingale was selected as the Trachtenberg School Distinguished Alumna for 2011, and was honored at the school’s Alumni Reception held on February 25.  Dr. Nightingale, who attended GW as an undergraduate over 40 years ago, also received her PhD in Public Policy from the Trachtenberg School in 1998.

From left: Trachtenberg School Director Kathryn Newcomer, Demetra Nightingale,
and Columbian College Dean Peg Barrett

Alumni on the Web
Many Trachtenberg School alumni have blogs where they share information and relate their professional and personal experiences.  Please check out the great sites below, and if you'd like to share your blog, email the link to tspppagwu.edu.

• Therese Doucet (MPP '07) has a blog called “Strange Violin Music” focused on creative writing, with links to some of her publications: theresedoucet.wordpress.com
• Jessica Smith (MPA '07) blogs about cooking and foodie adventures in Southeast Asia on her site, “The Inquiring Chef:” www.inquiringchef.com
• Tess Marstaller (MPA '10) relates her experiences as a member of the Peace Corps in Cameroon: tessincameroon.blogspot.com

Jaime Spilken, CCAS BA '07, TSPPPA MPA '08, is using the knowledge and skills she gained at GWU to serve the Washington, DC community. (Read more here)

Jaime Spilken

Ethan Pollack (MPP '08) has been featured several times over the past two years on CNN and Fox News. He is a policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

Your World with Neil Cavuto, Fox News, August 31, 2009 (click here)
Your World with Neil Cavuto, Fox News, July 2, 2010 (click here)
Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN, October 30, 2009 (click here)
CNN Tonight, CNN, December 15, 2009 (click here)

Jessica McKinney (MPP '09) was one of the student speakers at the CCAS celebration in May 2009, the second year in a row in which one of our students was chosen for this honor.

Amy Fredregill (MPP '02) won a Women in Business award from The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

Patrick J. Kelly (MPP '08) has been appointed to (ISC)2® U.S. Government Advisory Board for Cyber Security. The board provides insight and advice to the (ISC)2 executive management team on government policies and programs that affect the information security profession, as well as certifications for U.S. cyber security professionals.

Alessandro Arbore (Ph.D. '03) has been offered a new contract as Assistant Professor at Bocconi University.

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