The school has been recognized as one of the world's best graduate schools of public affairs.[2][3] It awards the oldest public administration degree in the United States.[4]
History
Abraham Lincoln Statue in front of the Maxwell School by James Earle Fraser.
The precursor to the Maxwell School was the Training School for Public Service, founded by New York City’s Bureau of Municipal Research, which was transferred to Syracuse University in 1924.[5][6] The school was initially a vehicle for municipal reform, its students serving as a pool of researchers tasked with uncovering examples of the corruption of Tammany Hall.[7]
The school gained its name after George Holmes Maxwell, a Boston-based patent attorney and Syracuse alumni. In 1924, Maxwell donated $500,000 to the university to establish a school which would aim "to cull from every source those principles, facts, and elements which, combined, make up our rights and duties and our value and distinctiveness as United States citizens." [8][9] Maxwell's initial interest was in training all undergraduates for their roles as informed citizens in the American democracy; University officials convinced him the school should also provide professional training for future government officials and other public servants.[10]
The Maxwell School was dedicated on October 3, 1924, and was the first program to offer a graduate professional degree in public administration. That Master of Public Administration program is the oldest continuously operating, university-based MPA in the United States.[6]
In 1937, the school took its full name and moved into Maxwell Hall, a purpose-built building on the west end of Syracuse University's main campus. The hall was dedicated by president Herbert Hoover on November 12, 1937.[11] In that year, Syracuse University's graduate programs and undergraduate instruction in the social sciences were moved into Maxwell, giving the school the unusual hybrid structure that remains today.[12]
In 1968, Maxwell professor Dwight Waldo presided over the Minnowbrook I conference, which established the foundations for New Public Administration.[13] Subsequent Minnowbrook II and III conferences were held in 1988 and 2008 at the eponymous Blue Mountain Lake retreat.[14][15]
The school's rapid growth necessitated the 1990 "Campaign for Maxwell", which raised capital to fund a new building to accommodate the expansion. The Holden Observatory, built in 1887, was moved to create space for a new 5-story building.[16] The result of the campaign was the Bohlin Cywinski Jackson-designed Eggers Hall, which opened in 1994.[17] Eggers Hall adjoins Maxwell Hall at the corner, together forming an L-shaped complex that houses the present-day Maxwell School.
The school hosts or co-hosts 15 research centers or institutes, encouraging interdisciplinary study and conversation within such broad rubrics as global affairs, domestic policy, conflict and collaboration, environmental studies, aging, public wellness, citizenship, and national security and counterterrorism.[2][1][19]
Autonomous Systems Policy Institute
Campbell Public Affairs Institute
Center for Aging and Policy Studies (CAPS)
Center for Environmental Policy and Administration
Center for Policy Research: The CPR, established in 1994, houses the Metropolitan Studies, Aging Studies programs, the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, and the Upstate Health Research Network.[20]
Maxwell X Lab: Started in 2017, the "X Lab" bridges the gap between university research and the public and non-profit sectors. The research leverages behavioral science and randomized controlled trials to build evidence for what works.[21][22]Syracuse University alumnus Joseph Boskovski started the Maxwell X Lab with Professor Leonard Lopoo, then-director of the Center for Policy Research at Maxwell, in January 2017, according to an article by writer Edy Semaan on the school's official news website. The Maxwell X Lab has worked with the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, the City of Syracuse, the Early Childhood Alliance, and others, covering areas like healthcare and education.[23]
Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs: Established 2005 and named for Daniel Patrick Moynihan, studies challenges to the quality of governance worldwide.[24]
Online Executive Master of Public Administration Program
The Maxwell School offers an online Executive Master of Public Administration degree for mid-career professionals.[30] The curriculum requires 30 credits, includes live online classes and real-world learning opportunities, and can be completed in 15 months.[31] Courses focus on mastery in leading and managing organizations with diverse stakeholders; formulating, implementing, and evaluating policy; and applying rigorous and evidence-based analysis to inform decision-making.[32]
Rankings
Since 1995, the Maxwell School has been ranked the top graduate program for public affairs in the country in 12 out of the 13 times the rankings were administered by U.S. News & World Report.[33][34][35] In 2022, the school ranked #1 in Public Management and Leadership, #2 in Nonprofit Management and Public Finance and Budgeting, #6 in the Environmental Policy and Management department, and six other sub-speciality ranked in the top 15.[34]
In 2018, Foreign Policy magazine ranked the master's program in International Relations #16 in the world.[36]
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