Featured Articles Archives - UGA SPIA Online Magazine

Featured Articles

Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders: Celebrating 20 Years of the Richard B. Russell Security Leadership Program

Melody Herrington

The Center for International Trade & Security’s (CITS) Richard B. Russell Security Leadership Program (SLP), which celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year, is a selective, year-long opportunity for undergraduate students interested in careers in national and international security. Since its inception, the SLP has trained hundreds of national security leaders, particularly on issues related to diplomacy, intelligence, WMD nonproliferation, human security, and strategic trade management.

SPIA Ranks 4th in the Nation for Public Affairs Graduate Programs

Caroline Paczkowski

The School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) at the University of Georgia once again ranks among the top-tier Public Affairs Graduate Schools according to U.S. News & World Report. In the 2024 edition, SPIA is ranked fourth (tied) in the nation. SPIA has consistently ranked among the top-ten public affairs programs for over two decades. Among specialty rankings, SPIA is second in Public Management and Leadership, third in Public Finance and Budgeting, and fifth in Local Government Management.

Back-to-Back Rhodes Scholars

Stephanie Schupska

The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship award in the world. Mariah Cady (AB ’24) and Natalie Navarrete (AB’23) were named Rhodes Scholars in back-to-back years. Both Cady and Navarrete studied international affairs and were fellows in the Security Leadership Program through the Center for International Trade & Security. Read more about their impressive academic careers and their plans for the University of Oxford.

SPIA Alumna Champions Diversity & Inclusion

Rachael Andrews

Hailing from a small town in southwest Georgia, Lora McCray (AB ’85) arrived at UGA in 1981. Education was important to her family, and Lora was a stand-out student, winning a National Merit Scholarship and being recognized with numerous other awards throughout her academic career. Most of her UGA classmates didn’t look like her, and they weren’t from her community, but Lora settled in at Creswell Hall, determined to focus on her studies and to continue to excel. Keenly interested in social justice and equity issues, Lora followed this passion, majoring in political science, with law school as her post-graduate goal.

Stop Summer Slide

For some kids, summer break is filled with fun in the sun, sleepaway camp, and plenty of time to leisurely peruse a well-stocked bookshelf for stories of adventure and intrigue. But for others, especially those from low-income families, summer can be quite the opposite. From an educational perspective, lack of access to books and scholastic materials over the summer has the potential to create an achievement gap for the next school year. One nonprofit organization in Athens which is led by a SPIA alumna, Books for Keeps, is working to ensure students enter summer vacation with the books they need to close this gap and keep students on track.

A Responsibility to Persevere: An MPA Student Transforms International Volunteerism

Melody Herrington

To some, the UGA college experience means long afternoons in the Main Library, or Saturdays at Sanford Stadium, but to Master of Public Administration student Nipuna Ambanpola (’21), UGA is the next step in a lifetime of public service and innovative problem-solving. Last year, his tech nonprofit IVolunteer International won $5,000 from the Georgia Kickstart Fund, the student-led startup housed in the UGA Entrepreneurship Program in the Terry College of Business.

Unprecedented Times

Melody Herrington

Four UGA School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) alumni lead their organizations to provide and serve through a once in a lifetime pandemic.