page_title: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Great Hall at the University of Michigan's Weill Hall.
context_page_description: The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, often referred to as the Ford School, is a leading public policy school at the University of Michigan. Founded in 1914 to offer training in municipal administration, in 1999 the school was named after former President Gerald Ford, who graduated from the University of Michigan in 1935. In the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, the Ford School was ranked #1 in social policy, #1 in public policy analysis, #8 in environmental policy and management, and #3 in health policy and management.
  The Ford School offers wide-ranged research in public policy and is known for its strong quantitative orientation. The school runs dual degree programs with the University of Michigan Law School, Ross School of Business, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Information, School of Social Work, School of Natural Resources, and University of Michigan School of Public Health, as well as the Departments of Economics, Sociology, and Political Science.
context_section_description: In 1936, the program became the Institute of Public and Social Administration. In 1946, it became the Institute of Public Administration.
  The University of Michigan established the institute as the School of Public Policy in 1995, with Lorch Hall as the host building. In 1999, the school was named in honor of Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States and a 1935 graduate of the University of Michigan.
  In the fall 2006, the Joan and Sanford Weill Hall became the new permanent home of the Ford School. The Weill family donated $8 million, $5 million for construction of a new $35 million building (dedicated on October 13, 2006), which houses classrooms, offices, and meeting space for students, faculty and staff, and $3 million to endow the position of dean of the School. The five-story structure, designed by the firm of the 2011 Driehaus Prize winner, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, houses several research centers, a policy library, and study areas for students. At the same time, the school began admitting University of Michigan undergraduate students to a new bachelor's in public policy degree program.
caption: The Great Hall, which is most often used as a study area but also hosts events.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-P32", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:05:04 19:13:27", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-P32", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2008:05:04 19:13:27", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2379", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4389", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:05:04 19:13:27", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:05:04 19:13:27", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "47/16", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light not detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1280", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "960", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2172", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}