The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs hosted a policy research symposium and ribbon cutting to launch two new research centers – the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs and the Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy.
The two centers were formerly known as the Global Security Program and the Energy and Environment Program, respectively, at the school’s predecessor, the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.
The Baker School is hiring multiple faculty to support its research and teaching missions, with the goal of training undergraduate and graduate students to conduct multidisciplinary policy research in these areas of expertise.
Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs
Faculty, fellows and affiliates in the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs provide critical insights through research on national and international security and foreign policy solutions. The center focuses on Indo-Pacific security and economic relations, specifically relations between the U.S. and Japan, because of the region’s strategic importance to U.S. national security and in honor of Baker’s role as U.S. ambassador to Japan.
“The creation of NSFA will help us build broader partnerships with experts in a wider range of issue areas that are key challenges to U.S. national security and foreign policy, especially the ever-increasing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Krista Wiegand, director of the center.
Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy
The Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy’s affiliated faculty and experts work at the intersection of energy and transportation technology innovation, the natural environment, energy markets and human behavior. The center also supports Tennessee’s State Energy Policy Council.
“CETEP will expand the Baker School’s role as a nationally recognized hub, convenor and knowledge generator,” said Charles Sims, director of the center and former director of the Energy and Environment Program. “We’ll educate and train a new generation of bright and talented undergraduate and graduate students for careers in environmental, transportation and energy policy. I want to thank all of those involved for making this happen.”
Fellows and affiliates working with the two centers represent 12 colleges and more than 20 departments at UT as well as industry, every level of government and the nonprofit sector. Over the past 10 years, the Global Security Program was awarded more than $2.5 million in grants and contracts from sources including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State, Y-12 Consolidated Nuclear Services and the Korea Foundation. Since 2014, the Energy and Environment Program brought in more than $8 million in external funding to the university from a variety of sources including the National Science Foundation; the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior and Environmental Protection Agency; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; and the Pew Foundation.
About the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs
The Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs provides critical insights on national and international security and foreign policy solutions. Topics of expertise include international and civil conflict; territorial and maritime security and disputes; Indo-Pacific security and economic relations, with a focus on Japan; and U.S. national security strategies. The center’s experts regularly participate in security dialogues and workshops hosted by U.S. government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and foundations. NSFA also promotes a global perspective through its sponsorship of educational activities for the general public and UT students, including the Japan Ambassadors program, an immersive international travel experience for UT students.
About the Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy
The Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy combines sound science and thoughtful policy to address energy, transportation and environmental challenges facing Tennessee, the U.S. and the world. The center is an interdisciplinary network of joint faculty, faculty fellows and affiliates, research associates, and postdoctoral researchers. CETEP is part of the Baker School’s research network, which extends to industry, every level of government, the nonprofit sector, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority, and outreach partnerships at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
About the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs
The Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs is the first and only school of its kind at any public university in Tennessee. Its mission is to graduate skilled public problem solvers prepared to take leadership roles as public servants, public administrators, policy analysts, policy entrepreneurs and candidates for public office. Currently offering a master’s degree in public policy and administration and multiple undergraduate programs that provide mentoring support, networking opportunities and firsthand experience in the world of public service, the Baker School teaches students to embrace the competition of ideas as a way of reaching more durable solutions, offering a way forward for those with the resolve to make things better.
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CONTACT:
Cindi King (865-974-0937, cking126@utk.edu)
Amy Smotherman Burgess, 865-405-3955, aburges8@utk.edu)