Mentor: Kiran Chawla
Firouz Niazi is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. Before joining the program, he worked for several years in public sector consulting and supported local and state government clients with identifying and planning approaches to new federal infrastructure, energy, and climate mitigation/disaster grant and loan programs. Firouz completed his undergraduate degree in political science at the University of Chicago, where he focused on comparative government policy and researched pandemic-era subnational government interventions in the United States and Italy.
At Harris, he is specializing in international comparative public finance, building upon his previous professional and research experience to explore best practices in governance, budgeting, and infrastructure financing worldwide. During the 2025-2026 academic year, Firouz participated in EPIC’s Bartlett Fellowship program. During the Fellowship, he worked with Dr. Kiran Chawla, a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. As a Summer 2026 DRW fellow, Firouz will continue research with Dr. Chawla, focusing in on how U.S. state governments are managing new pressures climate adaptation financing as federal funding remains uncertain and localized climate vulnerabilities intensify.