News & Events

Jacobson reflects on 9/11 on Profiles in Public Service podcast, ABC

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Mark Jacobson, assistant dean for Washington Programs, spoke with ABC Radio about how the attacks changed the course of the 21st century. Jacobson also discussed how public servants stepped up in the aftermath on the Profiles in Public Service podcast.

September 10, 2021

Jacobson speaks with HuffPost, VOA, Washington Post about evacuations in Afghanistan

Maxwell's Assistant Dean of Washington Programs Mark Jacobson discusses the failures of the evacuations from Afghanistan with HuffPost, Voice of America and the Washington Post.

September 3, 2021

Jacobson discusses crisis at Kabul airport with MSNBC, CBS News, Bloomberg

August 26, 2021

Jay Golden Named Inaugural Pontarelli Professor

The professorship is funded with a gift from Kenneth A. Pontarelli ’92 B.S. (Econ) and his wife, Tracey.

August 24, 2021

See related: Promotions & Appointments

Jacobson discusses US security advisor Jake Sullivan on NewsNation

August 20, 2021

Jacobson talks to CBS News, Washington Post about Afghanistan withdrawal

August 11, 2021

Jacobson discusses US withdrawal from Afghanistan in The Conversation

In "The US withdraws from Afghanistan after 20 years of war: 4 questions about this historic moment," published by The Conversation, Assistant Dean for Washington Programs Mark Jacobson offers both personal and professional perspectives on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

July 15, 2021

Jacobson discusses US troop withdrawal, Afghanistan on CBS, MSNBC, VOA

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced the rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan would conclude by August 31, weeks before the September 11 deadline he set earlier this year.

July 9, 2021

Grads set to make the world greater, better and more beautiful

The Maxwell School closed its 2020-2021 academic year the same way it met the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic: a mix of health precautions, expanded technology and commitment to tradition. That meant a prerecorded graduate convocation and faculty farewells via video. Maxwell’s May 22 graduate convocation also included speeches and award presentations, capped with recitation of the Athenian Oath.

June 22, 2021

See related: Awards & Honors, Student Experience

Jacobson discusses the removal of US troops from Afghanistan on MSNBC

"I just think that he [Biden] has been given, by his team, a false binary choice: either we stay indefinitely with a massive commitment, or we leave," says Mark Jacobson, assistant dean for Washington Programs who served in Afghanistan with both the Army and Navy reserves. "And there's a lot of areas in between, a lot of work we can do that is beyond that binary choice."

April 15, 2021

Jacobson comments on Trump's changes at the Pentagon in Politico

"It's likely that most are rolled back by Biden administration," says Mark Jacobson, assistant dean of Washington programs, about Trump's changes at the Pentagon. "But the point is all of these cost money, waste time and hamper the ability of the national security establishment to focus on the real threats the United States faces," he adds.

December 11, 2020

Alumna Kristen Patel named Gregg Professor of Practice at Maxwell

Kristen Patel will teach undergraduate courses in policy studies and graduate courses in public administration and international affairs.

December 7, 2020

Jacobson talks to Politico, Washington Post about Biden's Cabinet picks

Mark Jacobson, assistant dean of Washington programs says that "the [John] Kerry pick [as Biden's special presidential envoy for climate] is really incredible from a structural standpoint." His selection, Jacobson says, is "an admission that our mid-20th century national security structures were not designed to deal with some of the more holistic and potentially existential threats, in this case, climate change."

November 24, 2020

Jacobson weighs in on acting Secretary of Defense Miller in Politico

"Conspiratorial minded persons may think this change is about chain-of-command and putting the SecDef in direct control of [Special Operations Command] but that’s wrong — this move changes nothing operationally," says Mark Jacobson, assistant dean of Washington programs. However, Jacobson expresses concern about the "timing" of the move and "Miller’s motivations." "You don’t make a major bureaucratic change in an institution, particularly with regards to organizations dealing with sensitive and complex issues, without thinking through this," he says.

November 19, 2020

Jacobson weighs in on the firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper in Foreign Policy

Mark Jacobson, assistant dean for Washington programs at Maxwell School, commented on the firing of Defense Secretary Esper by Donald Trump. He said "Our enemies are going to take note of that, they know that now is a particularly vulnerable time"

November 10, 2020

Jacobson comments on US defense secretary's travel in Politico

"The further away, the less likelihood of being fired," says Assistant Dean Mark Jacobson of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper's frequent travel amid persistent rumors that he will either quit or be fired after the election.

October 9, 2020

Maxwell School picks Mark Jacobson to head D.C. programs

Mark R. Jacobson, a scholar of foreign policy and national security who also has extensive work experience in federal government and international organizations, has been named to lead Washington, D.C., operations for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University—the nation’s #1-ranked school for public affairs

June 23, 2020

See related: Promotions & Appointments

CSIS named number one think tank in the United States

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has been named the number one think tank in the United States in the Global Go To Think Tank Index.

February 11, 2020

See related: Awards & Honors

Alumni Spotlight: Develop Real-World Adaptable Skills for Improving Communities Around the World

The way Roza Vasileva sees it, the future is data: in particular, data gathered by governments—local, regional, national, international—and shared with citizens to make their communities, and their countries, better. Roza’s desire to make the world a better place drove her to study in the United States as a Fulbright Scholar and to launch a career spearheading open data in more than a dozen countries. What made that happen, more than anything, were her experiences at the No. 1 ranked Maxwell School of Syracuse University.

September 1, 2019

See related: Student Experience

Universidad Panamericana students spend week in DC with Reeher

“The UPA program in Washington is a great two-way learning experience,” said Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. “I easily learn as much from the participants as they glean from me.”

April 3, 2019

See related: Student Experience, Washington, D.C.

Maxwell-in-Washington News and Events