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Stories
Alumni Spotlight: Ali Knight (MPA 2007)… When Ali Knight (MPA 2007) stepped into the role of CEO at Fresh … a global pandemic. Despite these potential challenges, Knight’s personal and professional experiences have set him … present transitions. Through his professional journey, Knight has developed a belief system as a leader that relies …
Faculty Profile
Paul LightDr. Paul C. Light is Professor Emeritus of Public Service, previously NYU Wagner's Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service, and founding principal investigator of the Global Center for Public Service. Before joining NYU, Dr. Light served as the …
Video
Alumni in Action: Fighting for Immigrants' RightsJavier Valdés (MUP) serves as Co-Executive Director of Make The Road NY, the largest immigrant base-building group in New York. Since the 2016 election, Valdés has strengthened Make The Road's commitment to ensuring that immigrants’ rights and dignity are …
News
Professor Paul Light Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee Professor Paul C. Light of NYU Wagner, a nationally recognized scholar of government reform, offered testimony Aug. 5 before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the U.S. Inspector General Office and the boundaries of its access to the records of government …
Publication
Investigations Done Right and Wrong: Government by Investigation, 1945-2012Surveying the 100 most significant Congressional and presidential investigations of executive branch breakdowns between 1945 and 2012, Paul Light offers insight into those qualities that compose an “investigation done right.” Light’s research provides …
News
Three Wagner Alumni Recognized as NYU Changemakers for the Public Good… us in congratulating this trio of Wagner graduates: Ali Knight (MPA, 2007), President and CEO, Fresh Lifelines for …
Alumni In Action
Shammara WrightWhy did you choose Wagner for graduate school? I did a bit of research before choosing a graduate program and found that I was most interested in the schools approach to learning. Specifically, I was interested in a school …
News
Event Recap: Careers in Labor Rights PanelOn February 12, 2025, NYU Wagner’s Office of Career Services and the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative hosted a Careers in Labor Rights panel for a thought-provoking discussion on grassroots labor organizing and initiatives for workers’ rights in the city. The …
News
In a new report, Prof. Paul Light Opens Path to Improved Government PerformanceAs the next administration takes shape under President-elect Donald Trump, the time could not be better for well-informed insights into “What Americans Want From Government Reform” – as the title of a new report from NYU Wagner’s Paul Light puts it. …
Webpage
Insights from WagnerInterested in learning more? Request More Info Ready for the next step? Apply Now …
News
Full Steam Ahead Retreat Reflections 2022… Maggie Jean Knight (MPA 2023) Attending the Full Steam Ahead Retreat was …
Publication
Credit is Not a RightMuhammad Yunus, the microcredit pioneer, has proposed that access to credit should be a human right. We approach the question by drawing on fieldwork and empirical scholarship in political science and economics. Evidence shows that access to credit may be …
Capstone Projects
ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF NYC’S RIGHT TO COUNSEL LAWS ON RATES OF ILLEGAL EVICTIONIn 2017, the City of New York began a five-year, staggered rollout of its landmark Right to Counsel (RTC) legislation, providing free legal representation to tenants facing eviction. While previous studies suggest that RTC lowers eviction rates, …
Publication
Credit is Not a RightIs credit a human right? Muhammad Yunus, the most visible leader of a global movement to provide microcredit to world’s poor, says it should be. NYU’s John Gershman and FAI’s Jonathan Morduch disagree. In their new paper, Credit is Not a Right, they ask …
Publication
Insight from Hindsight: The New Education Finance of the Next DecadeInsight comes from hindsight. By reviewing enduring problems in education finance and policy, observing what we did right and seeing when we were surprised and why, we can identify research issues that we missed, avoid similar mistakes in the future, and …
Publication
Race and the Inheritance of Low Birth WeightThis paper uses intergenerational data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to address the black-white difference in propensities toward low birth weight (LBW). We determine that socioeconomic conditions account for some variation in low birth …
News
NYU Wagner-USCM Institute for Mayors Provides Framework for Future Smart City Solutions Using Digital Data and New Technologies… Institute on Smart Cities is supported by Verizon, The Knight Foundation, and Parsons. …
Publication
Crime and Urban Flight Revisited: The Effect of the 1990s Drop in Crime on CitiesThe ‘flight from blight' and related literatures on urban population changes and crime have primarily considered times of high or increasing crime rates. Perhaps the most cited recent work in this area, Cullen and Levitt (1999), does not extend through …
Publication
Syndemic Vulnerability, Sexual and Injection Risk Behaviors, and HIV Continuum of Care Outcomes in HIV-Positive Injection Drug Users… A.R. Knowlton, J.D. Wilkinson, M.N. Gourevitch, and K.R. Knight …
Publication
Birth Weight and Income: Interactions Across GenerationsThis paper attempts to answer a series of questions regarding the interaction of income and birth weight across generations. First, does the effect of the income of a mother during her pregnancy on her infant's birth weight depend on the family's birth …
Publication
Government's Greatest Achievements: From Civil Rights to Homeland SecurityGovernment's Greatest Achievement's: From Civil Rights to Homeland Security was designed to understand what the federal government has most actively endeavored to do since World War II, identify the top achievements among its goals, and use its agenda …
Publication
Is Biology Destiny: Birth Weight and Life ChancesTwo key questions are addressed regarding the intersection of socioeconomic status, biology, and low birth weight over the life course. First, do the income and other socioeconomic conditions of a mother during her pregnancy affect her chances of having a …
Publication
Unlocking the Right to Build: Designing a More Flexible System for Transferring Development RightsA new report by the NYU Furman Center details the untapped potential for NYC’s transferable air rights program, a critical tool for high-density housing development in New York City. Using case study examples, the report outlines limitations to the city’s …
Capstone Projects
A GUIDEBOOK FOR IMPLEMENTING NON-CITIZEN VOTING RIGHTS
NATIONWIDEUnited We Dream is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of immigrants and underrepresented citizens. The organization has been a champion for non-citizens, whose lack of voting rights excludes them from the democratic processes that …