UMaine to Announce Policy School
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Recognizing existing faculty strength in academic areas related to policy and international affairs, the University of Maine has created a new interdisciplinary structure to foster and encourage increased collaboration and scholarly activity in those fields.
The School of Policy and International Affairs (SPIA) will be formally unveiled on Wednesday, Jan. 24 during a 4-5:30 p.m. reception at the president’s house on the UMaine campus.
“Changes in the worldwide economy have had a significant impact on Maine,” says UMaine President Robert Kennedy. “Our state’s future will depend on leaders who understand the ways in which policy changes of all kinds affect Maine’s role in international affairs and business. The School of Policy and International Affairs will improve UMaine’s ability to apply its collective expertise to helping define the relevant issues and create solutions.”
SPIA will include faculty members from a broad range of academic disciplines, bringing expertise in areas including international policy, economic policy, environmental policy and international relations. UMaine has had significant recent success in developing similar interdisciplinary organizations where faculty members with similar interests can share ideas and collaborate in teaching and research. Examples include UMaine’s Climate Change Institute, School of Marine Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Honors College.
Prof. John Mahon, the John M. Murphy Chair of International Business Policy and Strategy at UMaine, has been named SPIA’s director.
“UMaine is always looking for ways to maximize its positive impact on its students and the state we serve,” Mahon says. “SPIA will provide a strong foundation on which we can develop a higher national profile in policy studies while increasing opportunities for externally funded research. Our students and the people of Maine will benefit in tangible ways.”
UMaine’s William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce will be a cornerstone of SPIA. In March, the Cohen Center will co-host, with the National Defense University, a Washington, D.C. conference on the subject of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. Named for the former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense from Bangor, the Cohen Center is now in its tenth year at UMaine.
“As we approach this milestone anniversary, I am very pleased that the Cohen Center will occupy a central role in the new school,” Kennedy says. “It is a significant asset which helps set UMaine apart from other institutions, and it has vast potential to help us achieve our goal of developing one of the top international affairs and policy schools in the U.S.. Our faculty have that level of expertise, and this new structure will help us move forward very quickly.”
SPIA will also complement ongoing work at UMaine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, which is very involved in state policy development and its Sen. George Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, where environmental policy expertise exists.