At the convergence of the fields of social work, urban planning and policymaking, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs identifies and develops emerging areas of research and teaching, cultivating leaders and change agents who advance solutions to society’s most pressing problems.
Founded in 1994, UCLA Luskin incorporates the best practices in scholarship, research and teaching in the fields of social work, urban and regional planning, and policymaking. The unique intersection of these disciplines within one school allows for academic cross-collaboration and a rich education that values diverse perspectives at the macro- and micro- organizational levels. Graduates of the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs are well prepared to take leadership roles and effect change as practitioners, researchers and policymakers in the public, private and non-governmental sectors.
Faculty of the Luskin School of Public Affairs are actively engaged in research that addresses pressing national and regional issues including immigration, drug policy, prison reform, health care financing, transportation and the environment, national security, economic development, and an aging U.S. and world population. The School is named after Meyer and Renee Luskin—UCLA alumni, Angelenos and philanthropists—who generously gave a $100 million gift to UCLA, half of which funded endowments in the School of Public Affairs. On March 18, 2011, the School was officially named the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Quick Facts
Master’s degrees in Public Policy, Social Welfare, and Urban and Regional Planning.
Doctoral programs in Social Welfare and Urban Planning.
Bachelor of Arts in Public Affairs.
Undergraduate minors in Public Affairs, Gerontology, and Urban and Regional Studies.
Student body: 1,199 students
- 166 Public Policy students
- 255 Social Welfare students (38 Ph.D.)
- 183 Urban Planning students (36 Ph.D.)
- 595 Undergraduate (242 continuing majors, 268 pre-majors, 148 minors)
Numbers accurate as of Summer 2024
Living Alumni: 9,601
- 1,159 Public Policy
- 4,863 Social Welfare
- 3,071 Urban Planning
- 233 Public Administration
- 275 Undergraduate Program
Interim Dean Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning
Before beginning her appointment as Interim Dean at UCLA Luskin in January 2023, Professor Loukaitou-Sideris was Associate Dean (2012-2022) and a core member of the UCLA Urban Humanities Initiative.
She has also served as UCLA’s Associate Provost for Academic Planning from 2016 to 2019 and as the Chair of the UCLA Urban Planning Department (2002-2008).
She holds degrees in architecture and urban planning. Her research integrates social and spatial issues and emphasizes the need in planning, urban design, and policymaking to understand the perspectives of those who live and work in a community, and especially those of the most vulnerable populations.
She is the author or editor of 13 scholarly books and over 150 scholarly articles and chapters, and she has written on issues relating to mobility and safety, women’s travel, homelessness in transportation environments, gentrification and displacement, ethnic neighborhoods, and inner-city and downtown development and revitalization, among other topics.
Professor Loukaitou-Sideris’s research on sexual harassment in public and transit environments was instrumental in the passing of the SB 1161 in California against sexual harassment on transit, and she was recently invited and gave a briefing to the White House Gender Policy Council on this topic.
Board of Advisors
The UCLA Luskin Board of Advisors consists of volunteer leaders from business, government and the nonprofit sectors who provide guidance to the dean and academic department directors. As interested observers, they are less likely to get mired in day-to-day minutiae and instead think about the big picture, dreaming of how things could be better at the School, within academia or in society as a whole.
“Our commitment to the School is, obviously, to be ambassadors but also to be active participants,” said Jeffrey Seymour, a longtime member of the UCLA Luskin Board of Advisors and former chair. That participation means attending meetings and serving on subcommittees that deal with aspects such as event planning, philanthropy or mentorship.
Strategic Plan
In 2012, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs used the opportunity presented by the generous $50-million naming gift from Meyer and Renee Luskin to rethink and plan how to meet the challenges of our time. This Strategic Planning effort redefined the future of the School, the future of the field of public affairs, and the future of how public universities respond to society’s greatest problems.
In 2020, a committee of staff and faculty revisited the Strategic Plan to assess the progress that had been made and identify remaining challenges to be addressed. The updated plan also discusses issues that have emerged during the intervening years and sets forth additional priorities as appropriate. In 2024, the Luskin School’s Strategic Plan was updated again as part of a university-wide effort.
These comprehensive planning projects focused on identifying the world’s most pressing problems, developing new opportunities for UCLA Luskin to address them, and creating the knowledge base, tools and initiatives that are required for the School to continue playing a leadership role today and in the future.
Documents related to the plan may be accessed as PDFs at these links:
2024 Update
- Strategic Plan (PDF)
2020 Update
- Strategic Plan (PDF)
2012 Strategic Planning Documents
You may also download all three 2012 documents in zipped format – (ZIP)
Note: Some UCLA Luskin-affiliated departments, research centers and administrative offices have engaged in strategic planning processes of their own, and those documents may be found elsewhere on this website or by contacting the respective unit.
Contact Us
OFFICE OF THE DEAN
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
Interim Dean
(310) 206-8858
dean@luskin.ucla.edu
Erin Collins
Executive Assistant to the Dean
(310) 206-8858
erinc@luskin.ucla.edu
David Cohen
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
(310) 206-2698
cohen@luskin.ucla.edu
Drew Digby
Research Development Associate
drewdigby@luskin.ucla.edu
Jocelyn Guihama
Assistant Dean for Administration
(310) 825-8653
guihama@luskin.ucla.edu
Hien McKnight
Assistant Dean for Operations
(310) 694-4312
hmcknight@luskin.ucla.edu
Julie Straub
Assistant Dean for Special Projects
(310) 206-8162
jstraub@luskin.ucla.edu
ADMISSIONS
PUBLIC POLICY
Ronaldo Avina
Academic Coordinator
(310) 825-7667
mppinfo@luskin.ucla.edu
SOCIAL WELFARE
Oliver Ike
Associate Director of Admissions & Recruitment
(310) 825-7737
sw@luskin.ucla.edu
URBAN PLANNING
Sean Campbell
Associate Director of Admissions & Recruitment
(310) 825-8957
sean@luskin.ucla.edu
upinfo@luskin.ucla.edu
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS
UCLA Admissions
General Inquiries and Advising
(310) 825-3101
admission.ucla.edu
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
DEVELOPMENT
Nicole Payton
Senior Executive Director of External Relations
(310) 422-4176
npayton@luskin.ucla.edu
Ricardo Quintero
Senior Director of Development
(310) 357-3140
rquintero@luskin.ucla.edu
Vishal Hira
Associate Director of Development
(310) 625-9690
vhira@luskin.ucla.edu
Tilly Oren
Associate Director of Stewardship
(310) 956-6315
toren@luskin.ucla.edu
Elizabeth Solis-Molina
Fundraising Coordinator
(310) 922-8449
esolismolina@luskin.ucla.edu
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS
PUBLIC POLICY
(310) 825-7667
Robert Fairlie
Chair
PublicPolicyChair
@luskin.ucla.edu
Stacey Yukari Hirose
Manager (Faculty, AP, and Finance)
(310) 794-5050
stacey@luskin.ucla.edu
Kevin Franco
Director of Student Affairs
(310) 825-0448
kfranco@luskin.ucla.edu
Ronaldo Avina
Academic Program Coordinator
(310) 825-7667
ronaldo@luskin.ucla.edu
SOCIAL WELFARE
(310) 825-2892
Poco D. Kernsmith
Chair
poco@luskin.ucla.edu
Shelly Brooks
Manager
(310) 825-1429
brooks@luskin.ucla.edu
Tanya Youssephzadeh
Director of Student Services
tyousseph@luskin.ucla.edu
Pauline Paulino
Academic Program Coordinator
pauline@luskin.ucla.edu
(310) 825-2892
URBAN PLANNING
(310) 794-4478
Michael Manville
Chair
mmanville@luskin.ucla.edu
Robin McCallum
Manager
(310) 206-7150
robin@luskin.ucla.edu
Brandon Basa
Graduate Advisor
brandon@luskin.ucla.edu
(310) 825-7331
Pauline Paulino
Academic Program Coordinator
pauline@luskin.ucla.edu
(310) 825-2892
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
(310) 794-4080
Michael Lens
Department Chair
UGChair@luskin.ucla.edu
Jeffrey Jin
Director of Undergraduate Administration and Experiential Learning
jjin@luskin.ucla.edu
Erika Villanueva
Director of Student Services
evillanueva@luskin.ucla.edu
(310) 794-9662
Rebecca Crane
Associate Director of Undergraduate Education
rcrane@luskin.ucla.edu
(310) 794-7192
STUDENT AFFAIRS & ALUMNI RELATIONS
Kevin Medina
Managing Director, Office of Student Affairs & Alumni Relations
kmedina@luskin.ucla.edu
Karina Mascorro
Director of Alumni Engagement
kmascorro@luskin.ucla.edu
Nandini Inmula
Assistant Director of Career Services
ninmula@luskin.ucla.edu
Nael Rogers
Assistant Director of Student Support Services
naelrogers@luskin.ucla.edu
Alumni Relations
COMMUNICATIONS
Kate Shirley
Executive Director of Communications
(310) 206-5252
kshirley@luskin.ucla.edu
Mary Braswell
Senior Communications Manager
(310) 794-7639
mbraswell@luskin.ucla.edu
Stan Paul
Senior Media Relations Manager & Principal Writer
paul@luskin.ucla.edu
EVENTS
Tammy Borrero
Director of Events
(310) 206-4612
tborrero@luskin.ucla.edu
Events Hotline
(310) 206-8034
events@luskin.ucla.edu
COMPUTING
Luskin IT Computing
Mits Yamahata
IT Director
myamahata@luskin.ucla.edu
Dennis Jong
Director of IT Systems
dennis@luskin.ucla.edu
Help Desk
(310) 206-6767
helpme@luskin.ucla.edu
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Rowena Barlow
Chief Financial Officer
(310) 206-7571
barlow@luskin.ucla.edu
David Jaquez
Director, Research Administration
(310) 206-6013
djaquez@luskin.ucla.edu
HUMAN RESOURCES
Pam Harris
Human Resources Director
(310) 825-6300
harris@luskin.ucla.edu
DIVERSITY, DISPARITIES AND DIFFERENCE (D3) INITIATIVE
Amada Armenta
Luskin Equity Advisor
Associate Professor
Department of Urban Planning
armenta@ucla.edu
Michelle Talley
Faculty Advisor, D3 Initiative
Field Education Faculty of Social Welfare
talley@luskin.ucla.edu
Erin Collins
Staff Advisor, D3 Initiative
Executive Assistant to the Dean
(310) 206-8858
erinc@luskin.ucla.edu
D3 Student Project Managers
Amil Hogan MPP
Savanna Hogan MSW
Jessica Tomas Lopez MURP
Organizational Chart
View the organizational chart for the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs here.
Visit Us
The Luskin School of Public Affairs building is located in the northeast section of the UCLA campus adjacent to the Murphy Sculpture Garden. Visitors to the School should plan on entering campus through the Hilgard entrance and park in Structure 3.
When classes are not in session from mid-June to late-September, the best days to visit are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
337 Charles E. Young Dr. East
Los Angeles
CA 90095-1656
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