University of Delaware's School of Public Policy renamed for Joe Biden

Josephine Peterson
The News Journal

The University of Delaware renamed its School of Public Policy after former Vice President Joe Biden. 

The university unveiled the new title – the Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration – at a board of trustees meeting Tuesday.

A graduate of the school himself, Biden said it was a great honor – and one his professors would not have expected.

"The idea that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be on campus and hear that this is the Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, I can't tell you what this means to me."

The president of the university, Dennis Assanis, said he hopes more students follow in Biden's footsteps to impact the world. 

University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis, right, with UD alumnus Joe Biden, announces the naming of the Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration on Tuesday at the Trabant Student Center.

"Very few institutions can claim such an alumnus, who is such a distinguished and accomplished leader and public servant," he said. "A hallmark in Biden's career has been the belief in the power of public policy." 

The university and its alumnus have partnered up before. Last year Biden became the founding chair of the Biden Institute, a research and policy center focused on solutions to domestic policy issues.

Biden also is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he heads the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and holds an office on campus. 

This isn't the first monument named after the former vice president. Wilmington's train station was renamed the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station in 2011, and the I-95 Welcome Center was dubbed the Biden Welcome Center earlier this year. Wilmington honored Biden, who once was a lifeguard at the Brown-Burton-Winchester Park pool in Wilmington, with the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Aquatic Center.

Biden said he hopes the UD school can steer politics back to the way it was when he started. 

"I hope what happens at this school is that we change the tone: We become more civil; we become more polite," Biden said. "There were serious, serious debates, but we treated each other with respect."

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Contact Josephine Peterson at (302) 324-2856 or jhpeterson@delawareonline.com. Follow her @jopeterson93.