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Student Profiles
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
The student population in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies reflects the diversity evident on the Georgia State University campus and in the city of Atlanta. In addition to attracting domestic students, the School has a large population of international students, coming from such countries as Albania, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, China, Congo, Cote-d-Ivoire, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, England, Egypt, Ghana, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
In This Page
International students
In addition to attracting domestic students, AYSPS programs are becoming known around the world, and the international student population of the School continues to increase. Currently, eighteen percent of our graduate population is international, representing 35 countries. These countries include: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, China, Congo, Cote-d-Ivoire, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, England, Egypt, Ghana, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
This year, the Andrew Young School was pleased to host international scholars supported by the Edmund S. Muskie and Freedom Support Act Fellowship Program of American Councils for International Education, the Mandela Scholarship program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the scholarship program of the Organization of American States, the Ron Brown Fellowship program and the Russian-U.S. Young Leadership Fellows for Public Service programs of the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). Other international students are privately sponsored. The Andrew Young School also hosted visiting scholars from the University of Mauritius and the State Administration of Taxation, Beijing, China.
Undergraduate Students
The majority of AYSPS undergraduates are transfer students in their early to mid-twenties who balance part-time or full-time jobs with educational goals. Many choose to pursue a degree in the school because they are already working in the public sector and want to gain additional expertise through academic study. Sixty percent of our undergraduates are female; approximately fifty-eight percent are minority students.
New Master's Students
New students in the Andrew Young School's master's degree programs come from a wide variety of career paths, as shown in the following partial list of their work experiences:
| Research associate, Georgia
Office of Consumer Affairs Sales representative, General Building Products Tax examiner, Internal Revenue Service Agency coordinator, The Weather Channel Middle school Spanish teacher Sports director and tennis professional Fire fighter, DeKalb County Data entry operator, The Associated Press Director of Community Education, Apple Corp. Special assistant, Internal Affairs, for Gov. Roy Barnes Customer service specialist, Security Network Bank |
Administrative assistant,
Board of Regents Assistant general manager, Pizza Hut USA Trainer, Hyundai Electronics Executive director, Southeastern Primary Care Consortium Administrative assistant, Global Health Action Account manager, United Way of Metro Atlanta Teacher, Fulton County Police officer, Gwinnett County Statistical analyst, Scoring Solutions Finance service representative, Southtrust Bank Senior research project coordinator, Emory University |
Several new students in the joint M.P.A./J.D. program, who are enrolled concurrently in the College of Law, worked as legal assistants or interns at various law firms before deciding to pursue a career in law. Many new students in the Human Resource Development program were already working in the HR field, as recruiting officers, program and personnel coordinators for various organizations.
A number of our new public administration and urban studies students became interested in public policy while working as volunteers: one built houses with Habitat for Humanity; one was an opinion poll interviewer; another coordinated projects for United Way. An internship in the Georgia Senate led one student to pursue the M.P.A. degree.
One new M.A. in Economics student completed an internship at the Carter Center Conflict Resolution program, which led to her interest in international economics. Another student decided to pursue the M.A. after interning in the auditing department of The Southern Company.
Four GSU employees took advantage of the free tuition program for system employees to begin the M.P.A. degree. In addition, two new master's students are employed at Emory University and one is working at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Doctoral Students
The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies welcomed twelve new doctoral students in Economics and six new doctoral students in Public Policy this fall. The entering class came from around the world, representing nine countries, as well as the U.S. Many of the economics students visited in the spring to meet with faculty and current students, and to tour the campus. The Economics department also held a day-long orientation and luncheon at the beginning of fall semester. New students in the joint Ph.D. in Public Policy were welcomed by Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State at receptions held on both campuses.
New Ph.D. Students in Economics
Javier Arze, who has been attending GSU in the M.A. program since last year, previously worked at the National Statistics Institute and for the Credit Bank of Cochabamba, Bolivia. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Mayor San Simon University and completed thesis research on the financial system of Bolivia for the Association of Private Banks in Bolivia. His graduate studies have been supported, in part, by the Organization of American States.
Peter Bluestone has a bachelor's degree in engineering from Georgia Tech and a J.D. from Georgia State University. He has practiced law, specializing in public interest environmental litigation, and pursued small business activities. Currently, he is a principal in charge of accounting and new projects for Intown Pond and Patio Enterprises.
Aime Calderon was one of the first interns in the AYSPS Summer Policy Internship program in the summer of 1999. She is from the Dominican Republic, where she completed her undergraduate degree in Economics at the Instituto Technologico de Santo Domingo.
Ki-Whan Choi previously worked as a researcher for the Korea Institute of Industrial Research, the Korea Institute for Human Settlements, and the Korea Cultural Policy Institute. He has a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering and a master's degree in economics from Pusan National University. His research interests include environmental and resource economics.
Marie Hutchison is a B.A.in Economics graduate of Georgia State University and has been in the M.A. program for the past year. During her career at GSU, she has been a member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon Economics honor society, and received awards for distinguished service to GSU as a student leader and to the AYSPS as president of the Graduate Student Association. She plans to become an environmental consultant and her studies have focused on environmental economics.
Paul Kagundu received his B.S. degree in Economics from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and his M.S. in Economics degree from the University of North Texas, where he worked as a research assistant and economics instructor. He was a banking officer and sales representative in Kampala before beginning his graduate education. He hopes to return to Uganda to teach and contribute to the government's ongoing development efforts. His research interests include econometric modeling, international monetary systems, theory and trade.
Pinaki Mitra, who is originally from India, has an M.A. degree in Economics from the Andrew Young School and an M.S. in Decision Sciences from the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State. Before attending GSU, he completed a bachelor's and master's degree in economics at the University of Calcutta. He has worked as a research assistant, consultant and marketing analyst at companies in Atlanta and in Calcutta.
Jose Rendon-Garza, who is from Mexico, completed his bachelor's degree in the School of Economics, University Autonoma of Neuvo Leon. While a student there, he participated in the National Economics Congress and worked as a teacher's assistant. He has also worked as an analyst in a Mexican stock market group. His research interests include macroeconomics, public finance and international economics.
Ana Rios, who is also from Mexico, completed her bachelor's degree in Economics at the University Autonoma of Nuevo Leon and attended the University of Arizona before being accepted in our doctoral program. While a student, she participated in the National Congress for Economics and the National International Commerce Congress. She previously worked as a human resources specialist and projects research assistant and her research interests are in the area of public finance, specifically tax policy and fiscal federalism, and labor economics.
Ant Veysel, who is originally from Turkey, completed his B.B.A. degree at Eastern Mediterranean College in Cyprus. He received a Fulbright scholarship to attend GSU in the Master of Science in Finance program, graduated in 1998, and completed classes in the Master of Arts, Economics program before beginning the doctoral program. He plans to teach and to conduct research on developing economies, like Turkey. His special interest is in the effects of globalization on emerging economies.
Li Zang, from the People's Republic of China, has a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics from Renmin University in Beijing, where she worked as a research and teaching assistant. She also studied at the State University of New York-Buffalo, before coming to Georgia State. She has published a number of articles on economic development in China and Internet-based media. Her research interests include economic development and public policy.
Velma Zahirovic-Herbert worked as a translator and field assistant for Doctors of the World and the International Rescue Committee, serving in her home country, Bosnia-Herzegovina, before moving with her husband to the U.S. She completed her B.A. degree in Economics and Mathematics as an interdisciplinary major at Agnes Scott College. In Atlanta, she has continued to work with the International Rescue Committee and as an interpreter for Diplomatic Language Services. Her research interests include the impact of immigration on the U.S. economy and various aspects of refugees as a special group of immigrants.
Ph.D. in Public Policy
Esra Alkan received a B.S. in City and Regional Planning and a master's degree in Urban Policy Planning from Middle East Technical University in her home country, Turkey. She worked as a research assistant while attending METU. She has also worked on city planning projects, as an account executive, and as public relations coordinator for Radyo ODTU in Ankara. She attended GSU in the M.P.A. program before being accepted to the joint doctoral program.
Nevbahar Ertas, who is also from Turkey, earned a B.S. degree in Public Administration and Political Science and an M.S. degree in Urban Policy Planning and Local Governments from Middle East Technical University. There she was a research assistant and worked on projects related to urban poverty and the effects of technological change on the urban poor. She plans to specialize in the field of science and technology policy.
Bo Han earned a bachelor's and master's degree in finance at the College of Economics, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China. He received undergraduate and graduate scholarships to attend Nankai, where he also worked as a teaching assistant. Previously, he was an account assistant for Motorola. His research interests include public finance, policy implementation and program evaluation.
Christopher Horne has a B.A. degree in Sociology from Berry College, where he was class valedictorian, and a master's degree in social work from the University of Tennessee. He completed internships at the Tennessee Department of Human Services, worked as a graduate research assistant, and presented papers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Conference and the Alpha Chi National Honor Society regional convention. He plans to pursue a research career focusing on the overlapping topics of urban poverty, social welfare, and economic development.
Zhenhua Hu completed his bachelor's degree in industrial trade and master's degree in foreign trade at the College of Management, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, P.R. China, where he earned scholarships for academic excellence. He has worked as a corporation manager, a teacher and researcher, and has published articles on industrial organization and high-tech enterprises in China. His research interests include environmental economics, growth theory, industrial organization and network economy.
Hyun Jung Park, who is from Korea, completed a B.S. in Chemistry at Kyung Hee University, a National Technical Qualification Certificate as an air pollution engineer, and a master's degree in city planning and environmental management at Seoul National University. She worked as a researcher for the Korea Institute for Environmental and Social Policies and the Environmental System Research Institute. Her research interests focus on environmental policy decision making.
