History of The McCormack School

History of our School: Accomplishments and Impact

The McCormack Graduate School was founded in 2003 to create a dynamic academic and research center in policy studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The school was built upon the foundation of its predecessor, the McCormack Institute, established in 1983 and named in honor of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John W. McCormack. In 2010, we changed our name to the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies to better reflect our expanded global mission.

Read about our 30-year history, beginning with the McCormack Institute, in Three Decades of Accomplishment and Impact, 1983-2013.

History of our Namesake: Speaker McCormack’s Legacy of Justice for All

Born in nearby South Boston, John W. McCormack was a committed public servant and a champion for the disadvantaged, a staunch advocate for the elderly, ethnic minorities, and families.
 
During his 42-year career in the U.S. Congress, McCormack left an indelible mark on some of the most progressive social legislation of the last century. His powers of persuasion as Speaker of the House helped to pass groundbreaking bills on civil rights, economic security, education, foreign aid, health care, housing, immigration, labor, protecting the environment, and voting rights. He championed important legislation like Medicare and Social Security, the G.I. Bill, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, the Marshall Plan, and establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Administration on Aging. 

His commitment to social justice and economic mobility lives on at the school that proudly bears his name. We keep his legacy alive by training the next generation of academic activists and policy practitioners who make an impact in their local and global communities.