Message from the Dean
Welcome to the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
Stuart Shapiro, Ph.D.
We are a unique academic community comprising world-class faculty, a highly-dedicated support staff, diverse and talented students, high-level professionals and researchers, and active alumni whose mission is to create just, socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and healthy local, national and global communities. We seek to expand innovation in teaching, research, and service for the public good in the local, national and global contexts.
In short, we want to make the world a better and fairer place.
Our core value to foster public good translates to working with government agencies, communities, businesses, and individuals. The school’s research and scholarship touch a wide array of issues that affect public welfare including designing healthy cities, better understanding the social determinants of health, researching ways to effectively and economically combat climate change, and so many more. Our approach asks our students to think about big-picture strategy questions about what can be done to make society better, as well as to have the detailed, operational and procedural knowledge to make a difference in the towns, non-profits, government agencies, healthcare firms, and other organizations where our many alums work.
The Bloustein School is a place where the disciplines of urban planning, public policy, public health, health administration, and public informatics speak to and learn from each other. Our students learn from experts in each of these individual fields and have the opportunity to understand the overlaps between the fields. We hope that our research reflects both cutting-edge techniques in these individual fields and the comparative advantage that comes for greater understanding when experts in different fields work together in a common enterprise.
Bloustein School students are a diverse group of undergraduates and graduates representing different backgrounds and life experiences. Each student is entering the school with a demonstrated commitment to improving the public good and is prepared to become agents of positive change whether they work in the public, non-profit, or private sectors. We help them harness the talents they bring to the school and learn from their diverse experiences and backgrounds. These diverse backgrounds provide one of the great assets of the Bloustein School. We know our students will learn as much from each other as they will from us.
It has been a tumultuous several years. We have navigated a global pandemic that has touched all of our lives. In the United States, our politics and civic discourse have been contaminated with demagoguery and misinformation. Economic disparities continue to worsen. A major war has broken out in Europe. At the Bloustein School, the response is not to shrink from these challenges, but rather to confront them. This year we have nine new faculty members that will help us rise to these challenges.
Through our research, our educational mission, and our daily engagement with the world at large we hope to be at the forefront of confronting these difficult challenges in New Jersey, the United States, and the world.