Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school offers undergraduate AB degrees, graduate Master of Public Affairs (MPA), Master of Public Policy (MPP) and Ph.D. degrees. Since 2012, Cecilia Rouse has been dean of the Woodrow Wilson School.

History

In 1930, Princeton University established the School of Public and International Affairs, which was originally meant to serve as an interdisciplinary program for undergraduate students in Princeton’s liberal arts college. In 1948, the School added a graduate professional program and was renamed to honor Woodrow Wilson, who was the 13th president of the University, governor of New Jersey and the 28th president of the United States. In two of Wilson’s speeches at the University – first during its 150th anniversary celebration in 1896 and again at his inauguration as the University’s president in 1902 – he mentioned “Princeton in the nation’s service.” This was then expanded in the 1990s by then-President Harold T. Shapiro to “Princeton in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations.” This phrase serves as the School’s unofficial motto.