How are we #1?

Mitchel Wallerstein G’72 thrives on seeking out new challenges in his professional life as well as in his leisure time. He delights in navigating the whitewater of Idaho’s Salmon River almost as much as he does charting the future course for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs—consistently ranked the top public affairs school in the country by U.S. News & World Report. “I believe you’ve always got to keep reaching,” says Wallerstein, who was named the first alumnus dean of Maxwell in July 2003. “When you stop reaching, you stultify. I want to see the school, the faculty, and the students continue to improve. That’s what it’s all about.”

In April 2004, Wallerstein outlined an ambitious agenda for Maxwell in “A Strategic Vision for the Maxwell School”. Among his top priorities: expanding the school’s involvement with undergraduate education; engaging in more activities with Central New York communities; and strengthening national and international security policy studies through new faculty hires and the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, a joint project with the College of Law. The dean also hopes to more than double the amount of the school’s externally funded research and to significantly expand its $48 million endowment, which is currently less than a tenth of that possessed by its closest competitors, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School. Wallerstein admits that it’s hard to understand how Maxwell competes so successfully with much better endowed schools, but he offers two explanations for its success. “We are able to provide a more diverse course of study because of the synergistic effect of having all the social sciences located within the Maxwell School,” he says. “The atmosphere at Maxwell is also very open and collegial, creating a strong sense of camaraderie and community among faculty, staff, and students.”