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Students Today
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
Mix of economics and policy draws international students
The Andrew Young School's unusual combination of economic theory and empirical analysis, broadly applied to public policy, has been largely responsible for attracting students from 35 countries to study in Atlanta, faculty members say.
"We're involved actively in giving policy advice to many countries, like Russia," said Felix Rioja, assistant professor of economics. "The Fiscal Research Center gives policy advice on tax, budgeting, growth, urban sprawl, health and education issues. We have the Environmental Policy Program that gives advice on water issues. All these elements are not typical for economics departments."
The Andrew Young School has recruited graduate students from Albania to Zimbabwe. Eighteen students representing nine countries entered the school's doctoral programs last year, and about 18 percent of the school's graduate students are from countries other than the United States. A number of students are funded through various international scholarship programs, including the Edmund S. Muskie and Freedom Support Act Fellowship Program of American Councils for International Education, the U.S. Agency for International Development's Mandela Scholarship program and the Russian/U.S. Young Leadership Fellows for Public Service programs of the International Research and Exchanges Board.
Nearly all of the students plan to return home after graduation to work in fields they hope will improve conditions in their homelands.
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| Alao |
A native of Nigeria, Femi Alao is pursuing a doctoral degree in economics
and works part-time as a health economist for the Atlanta-based Centers
for Disease Control.
This fall, she will begin a post-doctoral fellowship in the CDC's Division
of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
and Health Promotion.
"I want to go back to Nigeria to see my family, but I don't necessarily
want to stay there," said Alao. "I want to work in different
countries in Africa and apply what I've learned here."
A sampling of other international students follows:
- Ki-Whan Choi worked as a researcher for the Korea Institute of Industrial Research, the Korea Institute for Human Settlements and the Korea Cultural Policy Institute before entering the Andrew Young School's Ph.D. program in economics last year. Choi's research interests include environmental and resource economics.
- Bo Han, a former account assistant for Motorola, received his undergraduate and master's degrees from Nankai University in China before being accepted to the Andrew Young School's joint doctoral program in public policy with Georgia Tech. His research interests are public finance, policy implementation and program evaluation.
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Eunice Heredia is completing her second year of study toward a Ph.D. in economics. A graduate of East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, Heredia received a scholarship from the Institute of International Education. She hopes to return to her native Bolivia to work in the area of economic reform, with an emphasis on international and public finance.
Heredia - Paul Kagundu, a former banking officer and sales representative in Kampala, Uganda, plans to return to Uganda to teach and contribute to the government's ongoing development efforts after receiving his Ph.D. in economics.
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Percy Moleke worked for South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council before being selected as a Mandela Scholar and accepted into the Andrew Young School's master's program in economics. She plans to return to her work in the labor-market analysis section of the council upon graduation.
Moleke - Ant Veysel, a Turkey native who received a Fulbright scholarship to attend Georgia State as a master's student in finance, now is pursuing a doctorate in economics at the Andrew Young School and plans to eventually teach and conduct research on development economies.
- Velma Zahirovic-Herbert worked as a translator and field assistant for Doctors of the World and the International Rescue Committee in her home country, Bosnia-Herzegovina, before moving to the United States. Now a doctoral student in economics, Zahirovic-Herbert's research interests include the impact of immigration on the U.S. economy and various aspects of refugees as an immigrant group.
One of the main proponents of the school's international student-recruitment efforts is former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young himself.
"Preparing these bright young people to be policy advisors for their home countries is how we are going to help level the playing field between rich and poor nations," Young said.
Young, who also serves as public affairs professor of policy studies at the Andrew Young School, initiated a scholarship in 1998 aimed at helping international students continue their studies here. The scholarship, through the Georgia State University Foundation, honors Young's wife and is known as the Carolyn McClain Young Scholarship.
Student News
Human resource development major Ashlee Anderson recently completed an internship in United Cerebral Palsy's human resources department. Anderson's duties included fingerprinting, compiling new employee packets, maintaining confidential personnel records, and recruiting and processing employees.
Undergraduate economics majors Esteban Balseca, Rosalind Clarke and Talisha Searcy recently were awarded American Economic Association Summer Minority Scholarships. The AEA's Summer Minority Program, offered at the University of Colorado at Denver, is a nationally-recognized effort to promote the numbers and success of talented minorities in graduate economics and other quantitative social sciences. Balseca was the only sophomore to win the award this year.
Economics doctoral student Jim Barnhart has accepted a position as an economist for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Jordan.
Economics doctoral student Grant Black attended "Policy and Data Issues of the Scientific Workforce," organized by the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Sloan Foundation, in March in Washington, D.C.
Pete Curry, a student in the master of science in urban policy studies program, recently completed an internship with the DeKalb County Board of Health.
Sheila Fehrenbach, a doctoral student in the Andrew Young School's joint Ph.D. program in public policy with Georgia Tech, wrote "Initiation of Beta-Blocker Therapy After AMI in a Managed Care Population," scheduled to be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Managed Care.
Verdell Hawkins, a student in the master of public administration program with a specialization in planning and economic development, recently completed an internship with the City of Smyrna, working closely with the city's community-relations director. Hawkins' main role was to serve as assistant coordinator of Smyrna's Study Circles Project, a nationally recognized program designed to promote community involvement in city governance and economic development.
Kathryn Lookofsky, a student in the master of public administration program, recently worked as an intern at Capitol Impact, an online service that tracks political and governmental affairs in Georgia.
Public-policy doctoral student David B. Rein wrote "Public STD Program Interaction with Managed Care: A National Overview," accepted for publication in Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
Economics doctoral student Darmen K. Zhumadil begins a two-year appointment as associate drug control officer with the United Nation's International Narcotics Control Board, based in Vienna, Austria, beginning in July. His duties will include performing economic and statistical analysis of the demand and supply of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and the chemicals used in their production, in an effort to assist governments in complying with multilateral conventions. Zhumadil plans to graduate this fall.
Photo above: POSING WITH A CHAMP
Graduate economics students Javier Arze and Vuyelwa Vumendlini greeted heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield (second from left) during Andrew Young's 69th birthday gala in March.
