Goldman School to have greater impact, thanks to $5 million gift
| 23 October 2009
BERKELEY — Over the years, the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley has emerged as a leader in proposing solutions to major issues facing society, and now a new $5 million gift from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund will make it possible for the school to make a greater impact in the world.
The gift, announced this week (Thursday, Oct. 22), will allow the Goldman School to increase its international outreach to students and faculty; incorporate more science and technology, especially information technology, into the curriculum; and expand the ability to train future policy leaders and policy analysts.
The school regularly appears at the top of public policy graduate school rankings with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, both of which boast at least twice the number of full-time faculty as the Goldman School.
With nearly half of the school's 14 full-time faculty members currently advising or having advised the Obama administration, the Goldman School's profile has risen. Applications to the graduate program are up 30 percent, reflecting renewed interest in public policy careers and making admission to the school more competitive.
There are currently 190 graduate students enrolled in the school, with an additional 137 pursuing public policy as a minor in their degree.
In 1997, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund contributed $10 million to the school, which resulted in numerous benefits, including its name and the expansion of the student body and facilities.
"In 1997, the extraordinary generosity of the Goldman Fund made it possible for the Goldman School to construct a new building and to double the size of its master's program," said Henry E. Brady, the school's dean. "With this generous new gift, the Goldman School will increase its international reach and reputation, expand its capacity for training future policy entrepreneurs, and increase its ability to develop innovative policy ideas and programs."
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