Dear Students, Alumni, Faculty, Staff and Friends:

It is with great pleasure and anticipation that I rejoin the faculty at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia.  As some of you may know, I was a SPIA faculty member from 1996 to 2004, when I left for Vanderbilt University and then the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.  Returning to Athens feels like coming home.

I was present at SPIA’s founding in 2001.  At that time, our vision was to create and build a school of national and international impact and reputation.  Under the inspired and able leadership of inaugural Dean Tom Lauth over the last decade, that vision has been realized.  We will build on this solid foundation to strengthen and expand SPIA’s impact over the next decade.  I thank Dean Lauth for his dedication and service to SPIA, to UGA, and to the State of Georgia.

At SPIA, we are involved in a lofty enterprise.  Our aim is to promote civic engagement, to enhance knowledge about politics and governance, and to engage our students in the process of scholarly inquiry.  We develop innovative scholars, involved citizens, and future leaders.  To me, nothing could be more inspiring.

In my first months in office, I look forward to learning about how SPIA’s educational programs have developed and grown, about the faculty’s impressive research agendas, about how we can best support our students’ aspirations and ambitions, about our alumni’s accomplishments, and about how we can support and serve the citizens of Georgia,  the nation, and the world.

At SPIA, we have ambitious aims.  I invite your participation and collaboration in achieving our goals.  Please share your thoughts and ideas with me at sl@uga.edu.

With best wishes,
Dean Stefanie Lindquist