Maxwell School News and Commentary

Ralph Hockley ’49 B.A. (RusSt) passed away on Nov. 8, 2023. He was 98. He fought valiantly to defend the U.S. and other allied countries against Nazis and threats to democracy through two wars and beyond. 

Roland Droitsch ’65 M.A. (PSc), who served as the deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Labor, passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Jan. 26, 2024. He was 82.

Nimisha Thakur is one of 22 scholars in the United States to receive the award, which is considered the largest and most prestigious award for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences addressing questions of ethical and religious values.

Brian Taylor, professor of political science, says that the authorization given by the U.S. and Germany to Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil with weapons they supply could have an impact on the balance of power on Ukrainian territory.

The Maxwell School assistant professor will conduct two studies on school victimization and hate crimes toward Asian American and Pacific Islander students.

“Misunderstanding the Harms of Online Misinformation,” co-authored by Assistant Professor of Political Science Emily Thorson, was published in Nature.

The world is now reaching the point “where it’s kind of the twilight of lived experience, where from this point onwards, D-Day is going to be just a historical event that nobody who participates in commemorations had any personal memory of,” says Alan Allport, Dr. Walter Montgomery and Marian Gruber Professor of History.

“Just like in the GOP presidential primary when there’s a crowded field, you need to get attention,” says Johanna Dunaway, professor or political science and research director at the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship. “Given the venue and the tone and timing of this, it appears it’s Trump he’s trying to get attention from.” 

“Now this is where we reached this impasse where if we really want to totally restructure the grid, totally grow it in ways that can serve decarbonization, and AI...then perhaps this sort of more integrated, more central planning, more coordinated and socialized investment model could be more useful than this very scattered and sort of fragmented system we have now,” says Matt Huber, professor of geography and the environment.

“Assessing the Potential for Incentives to Raise Prices in Multi-Sided Platform Mergers,” co-authored by Associate Professor of Economics Áron Tóbiás, was published by American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section.