John Brandl to Discuss Public Policy Response to Hurricane Katrina

John Brandl, distinguished professor of public policy in the economics department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, will discuss “A Public Policy Response to Hurricane Katrina” at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29, in AVI of the Alcuin Library on the SJU campus.  Brandl will consider the appropriate policy responses to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in light of other recent U.S. disasters.  Brandl will speak for 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of questions and comments.  The event is free, open to the general public and sponsored by the CSB/SJU Economics Club and Economics Honor Society.

Brandl, a 1959 graduate of SJU, has held faculty positions at Boston College, Harvard, Wisconsin, the University of Philippines and Sydney University.  For 30 years, Brandl was a dean or faculty member at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.  Brandl also served four terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives and one term in the Minnesota State Senate.  In the federal government, he has worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Economic Development Administration.  Before coming to the Humphrey Institute, Brandl was deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.