May 2021
Kara Woodruff MPP’92 writes, “I am putting my master of arts degree in public policy to use – I just accepted a position as senior policy adviser for California state senator John Laird! I’m pretty thrilled.”
Jeff Hill PPS’97 has been appointed to the board of The Music Center of Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest performing arts organizations.
President Joe Biden plans to name New York Federal Reserve markets chief Daleep Singh PPS’97 to serve as deputy national security adviser. Singh oversaw implementation of the New York Fed’s emergency facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic, and previously served in domestic finance and international affairs roles in the Treasury Department during Barack Obama’s administration. In his new role, he will serve as deputy National Economic Council director in addition to his post on the National Security Council.
April 2021
Manisha Shah MPP '95, the founder of EmStar Consulting, took part in Women in Energy panel discussion at Duke on March 17.
Bibiana Vasquez MIDP’95, a consultant with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, worked on the Remittance Community Task Force, to develop a strategy on COVID-19 to address the challenges facing migrants and their families. For the first time ever, over 40 key stakeholders from the UN, governments and the private sector jointly produced short-term, actionable measures for governments, regulators and the industry. Vasquez led the process to create the Blueprint for Action for the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development. The blueprint was reviewed by the World Bank, the European Union and other organizations. The UN Innovation Network highlighted the project on page 4 of this publication. Vasquez lives in Barcelona.
March 2021
Travis Gayles PPS’97, chief public health officer for Montgomery County, Maryland, was interviewed on 60 Minutes (just after fellow Duke alum and counselor to President Biden Jeff Zients T’88) about the COVID-19 vaccine process in Maryland.
Brandon Busteed PPS’99 published an article in Forbes on a surprising finding about online education: fully online students are twice as likely to say they are comfortable sharing opinions in class compared to fully in-person students.
February 2021
Chris Lam PPS’98 has been elected a fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). The ABF Fellows is a global honorary society that recognizes members of the legal professor whose careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the field and to the welfare of their communities. Fellows are nominated by their peers and elected by the ABF board.
January 2021
Caitlin Durkovich PPS ’94 serves on the Department of Homeland of Security (DHS) Agency Review Team for the Biden-Harris Transition and was just announced as Senior Director for Resilience and Response for the National Security Council.