Maxwell Perspective Summer 2022

Maxwell Perspective

Faculty and alumni reflect on work to rediscover and preserve Harriet Tubman’s legacy

Perspective

Maxwell SUMMER 2022

DAVID M. VAN SLYKE

Dean

JESSICA SMITH

Director of Communications and Media Relations

JESSICA YOUNGMAN

Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

John Boccacino ’20 E.M.P.A.

Jewell Bohlinger

Steve Buchiere

Rob Enslin

Lenore Friend

Renée K. Gadoua

Shaina M. Hill

Lisa Maresca

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

Kelly Homan Rodoski

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

Jewell Bohlinger

Jennifer Congel

Sarah McLaughlin

PHOTOGRAPHY

Jeremy Brinn

Matt Coulter

Marilyn Hesler

Cable Risdon

Rikki Van Camp

DESIGN

Kiefer Creative

Maxwell Perspective is published twice yearly by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Direct written correspondence to: Editor, Maxwell Perspective

200 Eggers Hall, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y., 13244; or MaxwellPerspective@syr.edu

Class Notes, personal news and other updates may be submitted at maxwell.syr.edu/submit-update

Contents © 2022 Syracuse University, except where noted. Opinions expressed in Maxwell Perspective are those of the authors and sources and do not necessarily represent the opinions of its editors or policies of Syracuse University.

ON THE COVER: Professor Douglas Armstrong, right, is shown with Rev. Paul Carter, site manager for the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. See story on page 12.

Photo by Jessica Youngman.

MARILYN HESLER RIKKI VAN CAMP

10 A Pledge to Transform Education: An alumni couple’s gift inspires a joint initiative aimed at closing the achievement gap in school districts by diversifying teachers.

12 From the Cover: In Harriet Tubman’s bicentennial year, Maxwell alumni and faculty reflect on their role preserving her legacy and take stock of new milestones, including a national park designation, a book and the $20 bill.

20 Traveling Coach—Next to Chile’s New President: Student Rohan Popenoe found himself seated on a plane next to the subject of his SU Abroad research trip.

The Convergence of Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship

The media continues to provide heartbreaking images from the crisis in Ukraine—the stark remains of bombed homes, families seeking refuge with only a few precious possessions, teenagers and grandparents turned soldiers, and bodies in the streets.

Just after the February 24 invasion by Russia, polls showed Vladimir Putin’s approval rating rose to multi-year highs, reaching 70 percent. A survey found that around 58 percent of Russians approved of the offensive.

From our vantage point, these numbers may seem hard to conceive. Yet, popular opinion in Russia is provided by state-run media—propaganda that portrays Putin as a strong, heroic leader while suggesting that the people of Ukraine are subversive. Russians who suggest otherwise do so at great personal risk.

What’s unfolding serves as a reminder of the critical role of an independent media in supporting the underpinnings of a healthy democracy, one in which there is a marketplace of ideas and watchdogs ensuring authority does not go unchecked. At the same time, it has underscored the important work we do here at Maxwell to foster engaged citizens who, prepared with a breadth of knowledge in the social sciences, seek to advance civil discourse and improve understanding on a range of national and international issues.

If what’s happening in Russia seems too distant or removed from our experience, there are myriad reminders of the threats to democracy and discourse close to home. Here in the U.S., we continue to face the impacts of deep political divide and growing distrust in governmental institutions, exacerbated by the widespread dissemination of false information and the delegitimization of factual reports by the mainstream media as “fake news.” We’ve lost our way in having dialogue that builds understanding, even if it does not lead to agreement. The racially motivated shooting at a Buffalo supermarket and subsequent murder of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, were immediately followed by media reports reflecting more divide than discourse about pressing topics such as gun control, mental health and school security. Increasingly, information is curated to support one’s position with little regard to its scientific or research-backed legitimacy, thus limiting opportunities for understanding and problem solving.

Syracuse University is uniquely positioned to create a space to address these issues with research, instruction and public dialogue. I’m pleased to share that, in partnership with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the Maxwell School will soon launch the Newhouse-Maxwell Center for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship in Washington, D.C.

The center will serve as a catalyst for independent, evidence-based research; a platform for public education and dialogue; and a hub of student-centered instruction and experiential opportunities. It leverages a longstanding relationship between our two schools.

Through the years, we’ve reported in the pages of this magazine numerous stories of Maxwell alumni who have become successful journalists, some with a dual degree from Newhouse. While their paths differ, they often report a shared sentiment that a background in the social sciences—political science, history, international relations, economics and more—has helped them push deeper, ask better questions and write impactful stories.

Ken Auletta ’65 M.A. (PSc), one of the honorees at our inaugural Awards of Excellence event this past April (see page 8), told us, “I view journalism as public service—it’s a public calling, the way government is, and you have a responsibility to report the closest version of the truth you can. One of the essential checks and balances for government—or for anyone—is the press.”

The center’s location in the nation’s capital will provide front-row opportunities for our students and enhance our already strong presence. Washington is home to Maxwell’s largest alumni network outside of New York state, and our Washington, D.C., programs include top practitioners (read about our scholar-in-residence on page 5 and teaching additions on pages 28-29).

This is the Syracuse University and Maxwell School way: We confront the pressing issues of our time with initiatives aimed at bringing transformative change with collaboration, diverse viewpoints, research and world-class experiential learning opportunities. At the heart of these efforts are our students. They bring hope for a brighter future—a world where there is more discourse and less divide.

By the Numbers

David M. Van Slyke Dean, Maxwell School Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business and Government Policy

The Maxwell School has once again been named the top-ranked school for public affairs in the nation.

Ukraine Crisis Highlights Varied Humanitarian Response

Lamis Abdelaaty’s research explores how discrimination toward vulnerable people fleeing conflict can have a damaging impact.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offensive into the sovereign nation of Ukraine generated a widespread humanitarian crisis.

By early April, roughly 4.2 million Ukrainians had fled their homeland. The leaders of neighboring European countries Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Moldova have opened their borders to these refugees seeking safety from the Russian troops.

While these European leaders have demonstrated generosity and kindness in welcoming displaced Ukrainians, the attitude toward them is vastly different than recent instances of migrants and refugees fleeing countries in the Middle East and Africa—and in particular Syrians who fled in 2015, according to Lamis Abdelaaty, associate professor of political science in the Maxwell School.

“Even though the crisis in Ukraine has captured the world’s attention and evoked sympathy, some of the images we’re seeing are almost identical to those coming out of the Syrian crisis,” she says. “The images showing the devastation in the urban areas of Ukraine are the same as those from the aerial bombardment in Syria. Women and children on the run, terrified, carrying what they can and leaving everything else behind and saying goodbye to family members. So why has the Ukraine crisis generated such an outpouring of support while others have not?”

This has been the focus of Abdelaaty’s research, shared in her book, Discrimination and Delegation: Explaining

State Responses to Refugees (Oxford University Press, 2021). She shows how discrimination toward those fleeing a dangerous conflict can have damaging impacts, from how they view their self-worth to the services they receive and their ability to cope. Labels used to describe them—refugees and migrants—impact how countries respond, including the definitions of who is a refugee and who is a migrant, she says.

In the case of Ukraine, Abdelaaty says the correct term to use is migrants, since anyone who is fleeing their home due to indiscriminate violence would not qualify for refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention outlined by the United Nations. Under the terms of that treaty, a refugee is a person who is persecuted based on their race or religion.

From the start, Ukrainians were deemed refugees, a stark contrast to 2015, when Abdelaaty says there was much debate over how to refer to those fleeing places such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Abdelaaty hopes the way Ukrainians are being helped can set the standard for future crises.

“We need to think carefully about why it is we believe some people are more worthy of support, compassion and assistance than others. We don’t need a United Nations treaty to define the limits of our compassion,” says Abdelaaty.

—John Boccacino ’20 E.M.P.A.

What’s at Stake in Ukraine?

To address the uncertainty surrounding the conflict in Ukraine— from the loss of life and invasion of a sovereign country to the humanitarian crisis and economic impact—the Maxwell School hosted a panel discussion in February titled “What’s at Stake in Ukraine?”

The event brought together respected faculty experts who examined the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for an audience of nearly 200. The panel of Maxwell faculty featured Brian Taylor, Michael Williams, Osamah Khalil and Catherine Bertini. The program was moderated by Margarita Estevez-Abe.

The panelists spoke about the conflict based on their areas of expertise, examining the invasion; how Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization could take steps toward de-escalation; and the short- and long-term implications of Russia’s aggressive actions across the world.

Lamis Abdelaaty

Gift Aims to Inspire Engaged Citizens

Shana Kushner Gadarian has been named the inaugural Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking, a position funded with a generous gift by its namesake.

Inspired by her own experiences with “the best professors,” alumna Merle Goldberg Fabian ’59 donated $3 million to fund a professorship that champions responsible citizenship and educates students on the importance of critical thinking in service of democratic values.

Gadarian is a professor and chair of political science as well as a senior research associate with the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. “She is an excellent fit for this role as an outstanding teacher of undergraduate and graduate students who offers extensive mentoring and support,” says Dean David M. Van Slyke. “She is also among the most productive, impactful scholars on the Maxwell faculty.”

Gadarian’s research is frequently cited in media outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, most recently related to the impact of partisanship on attitudes and health behaviors related to the pandemic. For her scholarship in this field, she was awarded a prestigious Carnegie Fellowship in 2021. The so-called “brainy award” provides up to $200,000 for a book or a major study into a pressing societal issue.

The professorship’s focus on democratic citizenship is particularly exciting to Gadarian, as it is a frequent theme in her political science courses. In simple terms, it refers to one’s duty to be well-informed and active in society.

“I’m truly honored to have been chosen as the first recipient of this professorship,” says Gadarian. “This type of investment is vitally important to Maxwell as we work with students to deepen citizenship and civic engagement at this very important moment in American politics.”

Gadarian follows a legacy of professors who inspired Fabian as an undergraduate student in the 1950s. Fabian, who earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies, cred-

its them with feeding her interest in public affairs and the obligations of citizens to be knowledgeable and active participants in democracy. She took courses in American history, government and literature and was selected to spend a semester studying in Washington, D.C., where she met with Hubert Humphrey and other government leaders.

“I was a good high school student, but didn’t have a vision,” recalls Fabian, who traveled from her home in Maryland to enroll in the University in 1955. “But when I took classes with professors who had a worldview, who were so educated and incredibly articulate, they inspired me. They had a great sense of what government responsibility and citizens’ responsibility should be. I learned not to simply accept what I heard without challenging it in some way.”

Fabian went on to earn a graduate degree in library science from Catholic University of America and held positions of responsibility at the Canadian Embassy Library, the San Francisco Public Library and the Government Affairs Institute.

Her brother, Leslie H. Goldberg, served as president of their family business, Bowl America Inc., until his death in 2019. In the last two years, his sister has focused on setting up a family foundation and making donations in his name to his alma mater, the University of Virginia.

That inspired her to create an endowment at her own alma mater while she is alive and able to see it benefit Maxwell faculty and students. She was thrilled to learn that Gadarian was selected. “The dean has assured me that Professor Gadarian is exactly the sort of scholar I hoped to see fill this position,” she says.

—Jessica Youngman

A generous gift has created a professorship focused on democratic citizenship—particularly exciting to its inaugural recipient, Shana Kushner Gadarian.

Shana Kushner Gadarian says the new professorship’s focus on democratic citizenship is particularly exciting, as it is a frequent theme in her political science courses.

JEREMY BRINN

Merle Goldberg Fabian

Scholar in Residence

This spring, the Washington programs welcomed Ryan D. McCarthy, former secretary of the U.S. Army.

Former Secretary of the U.S. Army Ryan

D. McCarthy has joined the Maxwell School’s Washington, D.C., office as a Dean’s Scholar in Residence.

McCarthy, whose year-long appointment began at the start of the spring 2022 semester, brings expertise from senior appointments at the Department of Defense under three U.S. presidents, service on Capitol Hill and from several private sector roles. At Maxwell, he is serving as a strategic advisor, subject matter expert and mentor. Additionally, he will provide lectures, participate in Maxwell’s National Security Management Seminar and lead a graduate-level seminar during the fall 2022 semester.

“Ryan is a highly regarded public servant, a true bipartisan leader who has served presidents from both parties and whose reputation for dependable and selfless service is shared by senior leaders throughout Washington, D.C.,” says Mark Jacobson, assistant dean for Maxwell’s Washington, D.C., programs, headquartered at the Center for Strategic

and International Studies. “Having hosted Secretary McCarthy in my classrooms on several occasions, I’m eager to have him engage with and mentor our students more regularly on the value of public service, principled leadership, and working with bureaucracy and through bureaucratic challenges.”

During his tenure as secretary of the Army under President Donald Trump, from 2019-2021, McCarthy is credited with spearheading ambitious modernization efforts. Prior to the appointment, he served as the 33rd undersecretary of the Army and as a special assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during both the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations.

His private sector experience includes sequential vice president roles with Lockheed Martin Corporation and as a vice president at HSBC North America. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and holds an MBA from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.

See pages 28–29 for more recent additions to Maxwell’s Washington programs.

A Conversation with Congressman Katko

U.S.Representative John Katko (R-NY) joined Syracuse University Provost Gretchen Ritter this past April for a discussion reflecting on his legislative record, the polarized political climate and his experience during his eight years in Congress.

He advised the audience of students, alumni, faculty and staff to go into public service for the right reasons.

“Don’t do it for ego,” he told them. “If you’re doing it for ego, find something else. Take on a TV show.”

Katko, an alumnus of the College of Law, was first elected in November 2014 to represent the 24th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes all of Onondaga, Cayuga and Wayne counties and the western portion of Oswego County.

A former federal prosecutor, Katko was one of 10 Republicans who bucked the partisan trend and voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump for “incitement of insurrection” leading into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He and a dozen colleagues from the Republican Governance Group, which he chairs, were among the 13 House Republicans who voted for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

As a token of gratitude for his visit and his record of bipartisan action toward the public good, the Maxwell School presented Katko with a framed copy of the Athenian Oath.

Ryan D. McCarthy

Maxwell Prepared Mike Tirico ’88 for His ‘Most Challenging Assignment’

Abachelor’s degree from the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences helped prepare famed broadcaster Mike Tirico ’88 to take on one of the toughest assignments of his storied career: the 2022 Winter Olympics in Bejing, China.

In his alumni keynote address at the 2022 Undergraduate Convocation, Tirico talked about his experience as part of a small group of media delegates who, under strict COVID safety protocols, lived in the Olympic village while covering the events. The games brought intense global scrutiny to the host country.

“Much of the nonCOVID conversation around the games brought light to the decade-plus long issue of human rights, highlighting what the United States and other nations have documented as a mistreatment of ethnic minorities, especially the Uyghur population in southwest China’s Xinjong Province,” he told graduates, gathered in the stadium. “This is where the intersection of my Maxwell and Arts and Sciences life paid off, again.”

Tirico, who earned a B.A. in political science from Maxwell and the College of Arts and Sciences, and a B.S. in broadcast journalism from the Newhouse School, said his education enabled him to “build a foundation to

feel comfortable in discussing these issues with experts and eventually explaining that information for our audience in America.”

“Without my time at Maxwell and the College of Arts and Sciences, there is no way I would have been as prepared to take on the most important aspect of the most challenging assignment in my career, and execute it with self-belief and confidence,” he said.

Tirico acknowledged some of the tragedies and challenges that have dominated headlines in recent years—the murder of George Floyd, deep political divides, the capitol insurrection and COVID. “All changed the world in some way,” he said. “Own them. Let them be guideposts in your growth. They mix with the personal moments while here. And if you take the lessons learned from all those moments, you will enter the world ready to make it better.”

Tirico is host and play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports Group. In addition to the Olympics, he covers an array of high-profile sporting events, including Sunday Night Football and select golf telecasts. He joined NBC after 25 years as one of the signature voices on ESPN/ESPN Radio and ABC Sports. He previously hosted the nationally syndicated Mike Tirico Show on ESPN Radio, launched in 2007 from the studios of WAER-FM—the same public radio station at Syracuse University where he began his broadcasting career.

Undergraduate Convocation speakers included Dean David M. Van Slyke and his counterpart from the College of Arts and Sciences, Dean Karin Ruhlandt. Gerry Greenberg, senior associate dean in Arts and Sciences, served as master of ceremonies. College marshal Ashley Clemens ’22, who earned a bachelor’s degree in writing and rhetoric from the College of Arts and Sciences and magazine, news and digital journalism from Newhouse, served as the student speaker.

—Jessica Youngman

MARYLIN HESLER

Mike Tirico gave the alumni keynote address at the 2022 Maxwell School and College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Convocation.

Alumni Among Honorary Degree Recipients

Maxwell School alumni Howard “Howie” Phanstiel ’70 B.A. (PSc)/’71 M.P.A. and Gloria Somolekae ’94 Ph.D. (PA) were awarded honorary degrees during Syracuse University’s Commencement on Sunday, May 15.

Phanstiel is past chairman and CEO of PacifiCare Health Systems, an honorary member of the Maxwell Advisory Board and a Syracuse University Life Trustee. A staunch supporter of the University, along with his wife, Louise, a Board of Trustees member, he has served students through his leadership roles on committees, and as co-chair of the University’s second major capital campaign.

Somolekae currently serves as senior research fellow and head of the Governance and Administration Unit in the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis. A barrier-breaking academic in her home country of Botswana and a dedicated public servant, she has been a leader in women’s rights, democracy and development throughout southern Africa.

Read more about them at maxwell.syr.edu/2022-honorary-degrees.

‘We are a New Generation of Young and Enthusiastic Leaders’

Jahngir Aminjanov ’22 shares refugee experience in his graduate convocation address.

Friday, May 13. “Today as we walk out these doors, we are far more prepared and informed about internal and global issues. We are better decision makers now. We are a new generation of young and enthusiastic leaders.”

Aminjanov, who earned an executive master of public administration, was one of several speakers at the event, which launched the weekend of graduation festivities for the Maxwell School and College of Arts and Sciences.

for Early Performance Award: Timur Hammond, assistant professor of geography and the environment, and Jun Li, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs.

Maxwell Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty awards were given to Shannon Monnat, professor of sociology; Theresa Singleton, professor of anthropology; and George Kallander, professor of history.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Tajikistan was embroiled in a civil war that forced Jahngir Aminjanov and his family to flee to a neighboring country.

“From my personal experience I know how it feels to be in danger, I know what a war looks like, I know how it feels to go to bed hungry,” said Aminjanov in his remarks at the Maxwell School Graduate Convocation on

In his address, Dean David M. Van Slyke spoke about the need for “active, engaged and thoughtful citizens” across the world, “people who are willing to listen, learn and participate—those who, at times, respectfully challenge other’s positions—and who are always focused on improving and strengthening our communities and not simply defending or advancing a particular position or argument.”

Simon Weschle, assistant professor of political science, was honored as this year’s recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research (read more on page 30). Other faculty and student honorees included the recipients of the University’s Meredith Teaching Recognition

Student honorees included Doctoral Prize Award recipients Sean Hamilton Reid (anthropology), Joaquin Urrego Garcia (economics), Brian Hennigan (geography and the environment), Scarlett Rebman (history), Beatriz Policicio Rey and Nneke Eke (political science), Jeehee Han (public administration and international affairs) and Adrienne Atterberry (sociology). And, the following Outstanding Teaching Assistants were announced: André Anselmo (political science), Athena Nicole Last (sociology), Brooklyn A. Montgomery (political science), Christopher Rick (public administration and international affairs) and Gabriel Ari Roth (history).

—Jessica Youngman

Jahngir Aminjanov ’22 E.M.P.A. gave remarks at the Maxwell School Graduate Convocation.

Honorary degree recipients Howard “Howie” Phanstiel ’70 B.A. (PSc)/’71 M.P.A. and Gloria Somolekae ’94 Ph.D. (PA) are shown with Dean David M. Van Slyke.

‘A Day to Celebrate Public

The Maxwell School celebrated four champions of public service at the inaugural Awards of Excellence in Washington, D.C.

BY JESSICA YOUNGMAN

Helene Gayle received the Maxwell School’s inaugural Spirit of Public Service Award during an Awards of Excellence event in Washington, D.C., on a momentous day: Just hours earlier and only a few miles away, on Thursday, April 7, Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“To be able to get this award on the same day as a historic vote to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States of America—it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Gayle, who was met with applause and cheering from an audience of Maxwell alumni, faculty, staff and friends. “This is truly a day to celebrate public service in all of its forms and all of its facets.”

Gayle, who was recently appointed president of Spelman College in Atlanta, was one of four honorees celebrated at the first annual event, held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)—home to

the school’s Washington, D.C., programs. The event was emceed by Maxwell Advisory Board member and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Donna Shalala ’70 M.S.Sc./’70 Ph.D. (SSc)/’87 Hon., who previously served as secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Shalala called Gayle an “extraordinary public servant.” An expert on global development, humanitarian and health issues, Gayle served as president and chief executive officer of The Chicago Community Trust for five years. She is set to begin the Spelman post in July. She previously led the international humanitarian organization CARE, spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control, and directed programs on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has received 18 honorary degrees, recently received the Chicago Mayor’s Medal of Honor for her work on COVID relief and recovery, and she has been named one of Forbes’ “100 Most Powerful Women.”

In addition to Gayle, Maxwell honored alumni: Ken Auletta ’65 M.A. (PSc), Keome Rowe ’16 M.P.A./M.A.

Maxwell Advisory Board member and former U.S. Rep.

Donna Shalala ’70

M.S.Sc./’70 Ph.D. (SSc)/’87 Hon., is shown on the left, with, honorees

Helene Gayle and Keome Rowe ’16

M.P.A./M.A. (IR), James ’98 M.P.A. and Susan Willie ’98

M.P.A., and Dean David M. Van Slyke.

Ken Auletta G’65

Service’

(IR) and, posthumously, Charles V. Willie ’57 Ph.D. (Soc)/’92 Hon. In his opening remarks, Dean David M. Van Slyke told the audience, “When we established our awards of excellence our goal was to highlight you, our alumni, and your exceptional work advancing the public good.”

Auletta received the Maxwell 1924 Award, named for Maxwell’s founding year and established to honor an alumnus for distinguished professional and civic leadership and achievement in the spirit of the school’s mission. For decades, he has written about the media business and the movers and shakers of the information age, as the “Annals of Communications” columnist and profile writer for The New Yorker and a best-selling author. His profiles of media moguls such as Barry Diller, Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner and Michael Eisner, and his reporting on the inner workings of Microsoft, Google, Facebook and more led the Columbia Journalism Review to call Auletta the country’s premier media critic.

“When I entered the Maxwell School, I expected not to be a writer but to serve in government,” he said. “I learned many things at Maxwell: It trained me to dig deeper, to respect facts, to accept complexity.”

Journalism, he said, “is a public calling, the way government is.”

“One of the essential checks and balances for government—or for anyone, be it a justice, a Hollywood actor, a studio head or head of a media company—is the press,” he added.

Rowe, a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, was honored with the Maxwell Compass Award, created to recognize an early-career alumnus for exceptional accomplishments and professional or community impact. Days before the awards celebration, he returned to the states from his post as deputy cultural affairs officer for the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. “I have to say it feels good to be home,” he said. “I am truly honored and humbled to be the first recipient of the Maxwell Compass Award.”

A Texas native, Rowe worked in city government in Fort Worth and as a foreign policy fellow in Congress before coming to Maxwell. A college program in Japan stoked his interest in world cultures and languages, and he’s now fluent in Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi and Urdu.

Rowe thanked his “village” of Maxwell faculty, staff and fellow alumni. “I knew after attending Maxwell I would leave wiser, more confident, and know how to identify problems, ask the right questions and more importantly, be a problem solver.”

The fourth Award of Excellence was given posthumously, in honor of Willie, who died at age 94 this past January. His Maxwell legacy endures—first as a graduate

student, earning a Ph.D. in sociology in 1957, and then as a faculty member, becoming Syracuse University’s first Black tenured professor and serving as chair of the Sociology Department. In 1974, he left Syracuse to join the faculty of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, where he remained until his retirement in 1999.

Willie applied his scholarship to issues of equity and social justice. A committed activist, he twice brought his college friend Martin Luther King Jr. to speak on campus in the 1960s. His accomplishments included successfully advocating for equal treatment of Black college football players, the ordination of women priests in the Episcopal church, and the desegregation of public school systems throughout the country through an innovative approach he called “controlled choice.”

Willie’s son, James, and his wife, Susan Willie—both 1998 graduates of Maxwell’s master of public administration program—accepted the award. They and fellow attendees were surprised with the announcement that it would be renamed the Dr. Charles V. Willie Advocate Award.

“He always loved the Maxwell School, it was his home base, and he would definitely be really appreciative of this honor and to be part of this amazing group,” said James. “As a Maxwell alumnus 41 years after my father got his degree, I know my father was, and I am proud of the work Maxwell has done and continues to do around diversity and inclusion.”

—Includes reporting by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

MORE ONLINE: Watch a recording of the event at maxwell.syr.edu/ video-awards-ofexcellence-2022

View and download photos from the event at maxwell.syr.edu/ photos-awards-ofexcellence-2022

“I knew after attending Maxwell I would leave wiser, more confident, and know how to identify problems, ask the right questions and more importantly, be a problem solver.”

KEOME ROWE ’16 M.P.A./M.A. (IR)

Helene Gayle, who was recently named president of Spelman College, received the Maxwell Spirit of Public Service Award, created to honor individuals whose contributions have brought widespread impact and reflect the ideals of the Maxwell School.

Transform A PLEDGE TO Education

BY LENORE FRIEND

Students from diverse backgrounds do better in school and are more likely to go to a four-year college if they have teachers from kindergarten through high school who come from diverse backgrounds and identities, numerous studies have shown. Yet, teachers are often not representative of the student body.

This dichotomy underscores what has become an urgent issue in education policy: the need to increase diversity in the teaching workforce.

A team from the School of Education and the Maxwell School has partnered with local K-12 districts on an initiative designed to develop strategies for attracting more diverse college graduates to teaching careers. The four-year project is the result of the generosity of an alumni couple wishing to bring improvements to education with evidence-based approaches.

Maxwell alumnus and advisory board member Ben Baldanza and his wife, School of Education alumna and board of visitors member Marcia Baldanza, pledged $300,000 to establish the Baldanza Fund for Excellence in Education Policy in Practice. “In creating this fund, we sought to bring together faculty experts to build evidence for datadriven strategies that will narrow achievement gaps among students, inform educational policies at all levels of government and, ultimately, improve educational outcomes,” they say.

Soon after making the pledge, the couple shared their vision with Christine Ashby, professor of inclusive special education and disability at the School of Education. “They conveyed their desire to do something that would have the potential to reduce inequities and really transform the way we think about education,” says Ashby.

She and faculty colleagues proposed recruiting students from diverse backgrounds and identities and training them for teaching jobs in the Syracuse area. These young professionals would learn together and seed a network of educators who share practices and support one another in building more inclusive schools. At the same time, researchers would test and analyze recruitment strategies and build evidence for what works.

“When we suggested it, they enthusiastically responded,” Ashby says. The team, comprised of Ashby, George Theoharis, Leonard Lopoo and Robert Bifulco, began work immediately. Theoharis is professor of educational leadership and inclusive elementary/early childhood education. Lopoo is professor of public administration and international affairs, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics and director of the Maxwell X Lab, while Bifulco is associate dean, chair and professor of public administration and international affairs at Maxwell.

Last fall, they partnered with the Jamesville-DeWitt and West Genesee school districts.

“The research shows students who have diverse teachers are more likely to graduate, to be successful, to be prepared for life after school,” says Jamesville-DeWitt Superintendent Peter Smith.

The School of Education is working with districts on program development, while Maxwell’s X Lab is focused on a marketing campaign within Syracuse University and beyond to target recent bachelor’s degree graduates who may not have considered teaching.

The X Lab uses data, behavioral science and real-life testing to find better ways for governments and nonprofits to operate. In 2018, for instance, it gained national recognition for its work with the City of Syracuse to recoup nearly $1.5 million in delinquent property taxes with handwritten notes from the mayor and other city officials.

For the teacher campaign, Lopoo says, “We are going to try to appeal to students who might want to come back to their community and work with young people who would value or appreciate the help that a teacher can provide.”

The faculty at the Jamesville-DeWitt school district does not reflect the diverse identities of the student population. District officials hope to create more balance through a partnership with the Maxwell School and the School of Education to recruit and prepare teachers from diverse backgrounds and identities.

A gift by Ben ’84 and Marcia Baldanza ’86 inspires a joint initiative aimed at closing the achievement gap by diversifying teachers.

Ben Baldanza Marcia Baldanza

LEARN MORE

The Baldanza Fellows Program supports qualified and motivated future teachers from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds. To learn more about the 16-month master’s program, visit soe. syr.edu/baldanza/

He adds, “We’re going to try a lot of different behavioral recruitment techniques to see what works. Our research could have broader implications for other fields struggling to recruit diverse candidates.”

Tuition scholarships are available for those selected for the program. The Baldanza gift will cover costs for recruitment and evaluation of the overall program as well as provide a stipend to the master’s candidates–to be called Baldanza fellows.

The first cohort of students began classes this past May. Additional cohorts will follow over the next few years, with the potential for more at area school districts, an element that particularly interests the Baldanzas.

The institutional relationships are another key part of the project for the Baldanzas, who have previously supported students with a 2018 gift that created the Baldanza Endowment for Undergraduate Excellence to fund research and experiential learning and provide awards for outstanding projects.

Ben earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and policy studies from the Maxwell School and College of Arts and Sciences in 1984. Marcia earned a bachelor of science in inclusive education from the School of Education in 1986. Following a long career as a public school administrator, she now works as an assistant professor at the Marymount University School of Education. He is a former CEO of Spirit Airlines and current CEO of Diemacher, a firm that advises businesses on financial strategy.

“It makes perfect sense to facilitate the alignment of two schools that we care so much about and have so much in common,” they say. “As a matter of public policy, the School of Education and the Maxwell School both have a stake in ensuring equitable access and opportunity in schools today and in the future.”

The deans of both schools look forward to the project unfolding.

“The collaboration between two Syracuse University schools and the school districts’ investment in this project means we will be making and evaluating public policy,” says Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke.

Kelly Chandler-Olcott, the interim dean of the School of Education, agrees, adding, “We look forward to the traction we can gain on issues related to diversifying the teaching force by collaborating with Maxwell faculty and some of our most longstanding field partners. This gift is going to spark learning on multiple levels across the participating institutions.”

Ashby stresses the shared obligation to improve the culture within education at all levels.

“We’re not trying to fix a problem for the districts. We’re working with them to try to improve a situation we are all very much responsible for,” she says, praising the districts for their commitments to this program. “They are investing in something they will not benefit from in terms of new teachers in their school districts for 12 to 15 months.”

To learn how you can get involved in Forever Orange: The Campaign for Syracuse University, which endeavors to raise $1.5 billion in philanthropic support to enhance academic excellence and the student experience for all, visit syracuse.edu/foreverorange.

Counting Clicks

While the School of Education has focused on Baldanza Fellows program development and the training and advisement of the first accepted students, researchers in the Maxwell X Lab have conducted experiments to gauge the effectiveness of various student recruitment tools.

Their goal: To reveal which types of marketing messages were most effective at drawing interest from diverse audiences.

Launched in 2017, the lab studies human behavior with experiments that harness social science and behavioral economics research to develop informed, innovative ideas.

For the Baldanza project, student and faculty researchers curated an email list of several thousand people affiliated with the University and from outside organizations. Then, they devised different types of marketing email messages “to reach out to these individuals to see if they were interested in applying to this new program,” explains Leonard M. Lopoo, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics, professor of public administration and international affairs, and director of the X Lab.

The most successful messages—or those that garnered the most clicks to a website—were formatted as official letter correspondence from the University. “What we found was, if we sent them a letter on Syracuse University letterhead, signed by the dean of the School of Education, they were twice as likely to click on the website to learn more about the Baldanza Fellows program,” says Lopoo, who adds, email messages with a traditional recruitment format—colorful images of teachers with students and text highlighting career benefits—“didn’t really get their attention.”

By late last fall, students and faculty in the X Lab had run a series of tests, tracking email opens, clicks to the program website and clicks to a page containing the digital application. Those clicks measure the success of the various tools because they reveal how many were intrigued enough to seek more information. That was the goal of what Lopoo says is a “light touch intervention.” “We do not expect people to change their career paths due to an email,” he says. “What we hope to do is get them to the proper place to learn more about an opportunity.”

—Jessica Youngman

Christine Ashby

Robert Bifulco

Leonard Lopoo

George Theoharis

‘An Incredible

BY JESSICA YOUNGMAN

Maxwell doctoral student and National Park Service staff

Jessica Bowes occasionally finds pieces of old glass pushed up through the soil at the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, New York, where she got her start in archaeology with Professor Douglas Armstrong’s summer field study. Though archaeologically insignificant, the discoveries must be collected and recorded by a specialist.

Archaeologist Jessica Bowes uncovers clues about the past underground, but on this spring day, something sitting atop the soil outside Harriet Tubman’s house catches her eye.

It’s a small piece of glass next to the front porch. Even though it’s highlighted by the morning sun, most would have missed it. Bowes’ eyes are trained to the ground, always searching, it seems, for a piece of the past.

Clad in her grey and green National Park Service uniform, Bowes crouches down and collects the piece of glass and another she spots nearby. She slowly turns them in her hands, pointing out their differences. One is thick and curved, likely from an old bottle, she explains. The other is thin and flat—probably from a broken window.

Once buried, these pieces of glass were pushed to the surface by natural nudges—things like rain, tree roots and the movement of small animals and insects. It’s a process called bioturbation, Bowes says, which makes such finds nearly impossible to date and archaeologically insignificant.

“These could have been from 1950 or 1850,” says Bowes. “They could have been brought here as part of a load of fill dirt a few decades ago, or, they may have come from Tubman’s household.”

The possibility of the latter makes every find at the Harriet Tubman Home exciting—even for Bowes. She’s a Maxwell School graduate student and the newly minted cultural resource specialist for the site, which was recently designated the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park.

Located in Auburn, New York, the 25-acre property is where Tubman laid roots after self-emancipation, continuing her mission to care for the African American community and support the suffragist movement. It consists of a two-story brick home that served as her family’s residence, a barn, a white clapboard house that was part of her Home for the Aged, and a visitor’s center.

Each year, it draws thousands of tourists, ranging from elementary school groups and families to elected officials and, one day this past March, Grammy-winning musician Alicia Keys. An uptick in visitors is expected this year, as it’s the bicentennial of Tubman’s birth in 1822, and interest in her story has piqued with the social reckoning of recent years.

Those who take the tour may not notice pieces of glass resting on the soil, but they will see displays containing artifacts—toy figurines, teacups and more—that were unearthed by Maxwell students, including Bowes, who took part in an archaeology field study that was offered at the site for nearly 20 years.

Visitors will also hear details of Tubman’s life in freedom that would not have been known if not for the work of those students under the guidance of Maxwell anthropology Professor Douglas Armstrong, who is about to release a new book, The Archaeology of Harriet Tubman’s Life in Freedom (Syracuse University Press, 2022).

Though the archaeology course was last offered several years ago, Maxwell’s connection to the Tubman site endures. It’s evidenced by Bowes, who has come full circle with what she calls her “dream job,” and with other alumni of the program who say their findings at the site changed their perspective and, in some cases, inspired careers.

continued on page 14

In Harriet Tubman’s bicentennial year, alumni and faculty reflect on their role preserving her legacy and take stock of new milestones, including a national park designation, a book and the $20 bill.

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Endeavor’

continued from page 12

Hidden in Wild Roses

Maxwell’s connection came about by happenstance.

In the early 1990s, as part of a public policy and archaeology class, Professor Douglas Armstrong and his undergraduate students carried out an investigation of the former Wesleyan Methodist Church in Syracuse, where several sculpted clay faces were found in the basement. The pieces of art may have been made by African American refugees from slavery. As part of a follow-up summer field school, Armstrong and his students visited several sites tied to abolition.

The Harriet Tubman Home was one of their stops. Armstrong remembers that, early in the visit, he took note of a photo on display in the visitor’s center that showed a large brick building named John Brown Hall, which had served as a dormitory or infirmary for Tubman’s Home for the Aged. Rev. Paul Carter, the site’s longtime caretaker, told the professor that the building had been torn down long before, its remains lost somewhere in the woods out back.

It was lunchtime. Armstrong’s students were hungry. He told them they could eat—after they found the building’s remains. “Within 15 minutes we found the basement of John Brown Hall, hidden in wild roses and berry bushes,” recalls Armstrong.

The mood was jovial, but privately, Armstrong was surprised by the condition of the property. He would later come to understand that its owners, the A.M.E. Zion Church, had done their best through the years to protect the site but struggled with few resources and little support.

Armstrong asked Carter if he could return for an archaeological project. “His eyes lit up,” recalls Armstrong. “He wanted people to love this place like he did. That excitement, it got to me. I said, ‘I’m going to do this.’”

Armstrong returned to the site in the summer of 1999 to teach a month-long field school course. The first of an annual offering at the site for undergraduate and graduate students, it drew a mix of anthropology majors and others

looking to fulfill a social sciences requirement.

The first two summers were spent excavating around John Brown Hall. They recovered rings, broaches and picture frames, as well as an array of medicine bottles and ointment jars.

The team later expanded their work across the property, excavating a tremendous collection of material objects.

In the summer of 2002, they found the equivalent of an archaeological jackpot alongside Tubman’s brick house. “About six inches below the surface, we started finding ash,” says Armstrong. “Then we started noticing burned artifacts.”

They had been looking for the remains of a garden but instead discovered a builder’s trench that contained debris and contents from the brick home’s predecessor—a wooden structure shown in early photos. Armstrong wondered what necessitated the rebuild; he and others assumed the first structure was destroyed by fire but, until now, had no evidence.

One of the first items pulled from the trench was part of a cup that included maker’s marks traced back to the former Onondaga Pottery Co., sometime between 1875 and 1882. “No one really knew what happened to the house,” says Armstrong. “Using the timeframe of the pottery, we went into newspaper records and found at least two accounts of a fire on Feb. 10, 1880, and it all made sense.”

Elsewhere on the property, Armstrong and the students also uncovered a brick kiln. After reviewing historic records, they came to believe that the bricks for the new home were made on site under the supervision of Tubman’s second husband, Nelson Davis.

Students also unearthed ornately patterned tea sets that were likely used for important social functions. Tubman was known to have both hosted and attended teas with other leading suffragists and activists of the time

Harriet Tubman is shown with supporters outside of John Brown Hall in 1911. Maxwell students, led by Professor Douglas Armstrong, discovered the remains of the building during a visit to the Auburn property in the early 1990s.

Students in the Maxwell archaeology field study course excavated toys, including this pet figurine, and this bottle that had been filled with liquid gold. The gold was painted on plain white dinnerware, which was often resold as a source of income.

RIKKI VAN CAMP

including Lucretia Mott. But her gatherings were unconventional by comparison: “She invited men and women and she didn’t have racial distinctions,” says Armstrong. “They didn’t just drink tea, they engaged in discourse—this was a means by which Tubman tried to achieve her goals.”

Armstrong’s colleague, Carol Faulkner, professor of history and associate dean for academic affairs, praises his groundbreaking research into Tubman’s postwar life and activism. “Tubman and Mott were part of a network of activists who deliberately built a movement against racism as well as slavery,” she says. “It is important to remember that this anti-racist organizing persisted into the post-Civil War era.”

Jessica Bowes, the doctoral student and National Park Service employee, says even the simplest of finds are exciting—a clay marble buried along the former walkway or a piece of glass. “Once you find one, you think to yourself, ‘I’m the first one to touch this since Tubman’s house-

hold used this.’ Being able to be part of Tubman’s legacy is life-changing in many ways,” she said.

Alumnus Curt Coville ’20 B.A. (Anth) took the course in 2013 while working toward his undergraduate degree as an adult student. “I remember one of the coolest things I discovered was a pre-Civil War New York militia button,” he says.

Christine Ames ’10 B.A. (Anth) remembers finding nails, an ornate bone-handled toothbrush, parts of a toiletry kit and bits of leather from a shoe. “We were part of an incredible endeavor,” she says. “It was like a time machine: You’re handling artifacts that were part of the house and household of her family and close friends. I think it’s incredible that archaeology has been able to play a large role in continuing to tell the story of her life, which after the Civil War, was no less extraordinary.”

continued on page 16

Harriet Tubman lived in this brick home, the centerpiece of the Auburn property. She purchased it as part of a seven-acre farm in 1859 from then senator, and later secretary of state, William Seward and his wife Frances.

Using some of the original lumber, the barn behind Harriet Tubman’s brick home was recently reconstructed to appear as it would have in the 19th century.

“We were part of an incredible endeavor. It was like a time machine: You’re handling artifacts that were part of the house and household of her family and close friends. I think it’s incredible that archaeology has been able to play a large role in continuing to tell the story of her life, which after the Civil War, was no less extraordinary.”

—CHRISTINE AMES ’10 B.A.

continued from page 15

A Peek into Tubman’s Life

Most weekdays at the Harriet Tubman Home start with a 10 a.m. tour by site manager, Rev. Paul Carter. On a recent Wednesday, he’s greeted by two young families who’ve reserved the slot in advance.

After providing a brief overview of Tubman’s life, Carter walks them from the visitor’s center toward the white clapboard house. Amplified by a portable headset microphone, he explains that the structure was central to her efforts to provide care for the sick and elderly. The house was previously believed to have been Tubman’s living quarters—in their research, Maxwell Professor Douglas Armstrong and students helped dispel that and many other previously held assumptions.

As Jessica Bowes walks past, Carter pauses the tour and calls on her to introduce herself. After a sheepish pause, Bowes shares that she’s just started a new post with the National Park Service; in addition to the Tubman site, she works for the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in nearby Seneca Falls. Carter elaborates that she was among the Syracuse University students who excavated roughly 70,000 artifacts from the property. Though their faces were partially obscured by masks—a sign of the times—the visitors’ astonishment was clear.

Bowes enrolled in the Maxwell School to pursue a doctorate in anthropology in 2009—about 10 years after the summer field study had begun. Her master’s degree research at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, had focused on an enslaved community in Virginia.

“I was drawn to Syracuse because it has strong researchers in that area,” says Bowes. Armstrong was

among them. For decades, he has explored issues related to African diaspora, slavery and freedom with a focus on archaeological investigations in the Caribbean.

Bowes spent six summers conducting research at the Tubman site, most recently in 2015 as a teaching assistant. Her doctoral work, temporarily on hold while she gains footing in her new position, explores the relationship between Tubman’s household and food and identity in Auburn.

“That research is a balance of using the data and going back to the traditions of the people we know about,” she says. “I am trying to learn what foods those in Tubman’s household ate while living in Auburn and better understand their relationship to those foods. Academics often separate the foodways of free and enslaved peoples. Tubman, and those in her home, were both and their food choices and tastes reflect their whole lived experience and weren’t necessarily defined by their legal status.”

Amid her field study work, in 2012, Bowes took a position as an archaeology technician at Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, New York. Six years later, she was offered an opportunity to serve as one of two national park rangers at the Tubman property. She spent four months assisting Carter with operations and tours. She helped coordinate special events, developed new programming and built partnerships with organizations like the Girl Scouts.

“It was a really great experience,” she says. “That gave me a breadth of historical context for the site, and it gave me experience in being public facing.”

Alumna Christine Ames shares the sentiment. She’s now an assistant city archaeologist for Washington, D.C. The position is situated in the city’s historic preservation office, which serves as a reviewing agency for proposed

Tea sets discovered at the site, combined with historical documents, reveal that Harriet Tubman frequently hosted gatherings to further her mission.

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Part of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, the white clapboard house at the Auburn property was previously—and erroneously—believed to have been the abolitionist’s residence.

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development projects, leads educational outreach programs and manages a vast archaeology collection.

Ames says the public-private partnerships that have helped protect and advance the mission of the Tubman site have provided a powerful model for her current work, which often crosses sectors. In particular, she has admired the relationship between the National Park Service and the Harriet Tubman Home’s longtime owners, the A.M.E. Zion Church. Tubman bequeathed the property to the church in 1903, 10 years before her death. In a unique arrangement, the church continues to own and operate the site under a nonprofit designation in partnership with the Park Service.

“I also really took note of the support network that was in place and how important community engagement was for archaeology,” says Ames. “This is one of the lessons I learned at Maxwell that has really stuck with me. If anything, Dr. Armstrong and the A.M.E. Zion church made it all look easy but having had my own professional experiences these past few years, I really respect and appreciate the fact that it is a lot of work, and it is hard work—but it’s so important.”

Even though he didn’t wind up in the profession, alumnus Curt Coville says the field study was transformative. “I was not a strong student when I was younger but through experiences like this, I began to flourish as a learner,” he says. “Having the opportunity to learn history through these unique hands-on experiences was one of the reasons I wanted to go on. Learning about Harriet and her history has stuck with me.”

Coville went on to earn a master’s in education and is now pursing an MBA at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. He works not far from the Tubman home, for a nonprofit called Cayuga Centers that supports foster children. He says his work embraces “the spirit of Harriet Tubman.” Inspired by her legacy, he adds, “I hope to continue doing as much good as I can.”

Metal Buttons

Preservation efforts at the Harriet Tubman Home in recent years have included the addition of two historically accurate porches to the brick home, along with new windows that were painstakingly handmade to replicate those from the 19th century.

In addition, a wooden barn has been constructed behind the house using what could be salvaged from the original structure, which was damaged through the decades by weather and conversions made by wellmeaning tenants.

The partnership with the National Park Service, which became official in January 2017, may allow for new opportunities.

In the lead up to the property’s designation as the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, Professor Douglas Armstrong made a half-dozen trips to Washington, D.C., joined by A.M.E. Zion Church representatives and

Karen Hill, president and CEO of the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. They met with lawmakers and found support on both sides of the aisle, including former senator and first lady Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Rep. John Katko and former U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei.

Armstrong, Hill and others returned to D.C. for a signing ceremony. During the trip, he toured the Smithsonian alongside Tubman’s grandnieces, who he’d come to know through the years while excavating the property.

More recently, in 2019, Armstrong brought a group of Maxwell students to conduct a research project at the church and parsonage for what’s now called the Thompson Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church. Owned by the National Park Service, it is located a few blocks from the Tubman home and is where her funeral was held in 1913. Students uncovered curbstone dating back to Tubman’s time, as well as serving dishes and materials used for the original construction.

Around the same time, Armstrong was invited to Auburn to attend a pre-screening of the feature film “Harriet.” The audience also included many of his friends from the Harriet Tubman Home and Tubman descendants. “They were extremely happy with the film,” he recalls.

He was pleased, too. The biographical film ends before the Civil War, leaving the story of Tubman’s time in Auburn untold. It was an affirmation to Armstrong of the importance of another project he’d been immersed in behind the scenes—at the time of the premiere, he’d just finished a draft of his book, The Archaeology of Harriet Tubman’s Life in Freedom

The book was to be released in 2021, but as with so many other things, COVID caused delays that pushed its publication to this year. The lag may have been serendipitous, as the release now coincides with Tubman’s bicentennial, an occasion that is being marked by special events in Auburn and across the country.

In recent years, Armstrong has also been involved with efforts to use Tubman’s image on the $20 bill. He was among the historians and archaeologists asked to provide input to an artist who was commissioned to create a portrait for eventual use on the currency.

During one of his trips to Washington, D.C., Armstrong was invited to view the resulting artwork. He was pleased to see a suggestion he’d made to the artist had made it onto the painting: three, six-pointed metal star buttons pinned to Tubman’s dress. Armstrong and his Maxwell students routinely found the buttons in the ground on her Auburn property.

“We thought it was a magnificent painting,” he says. “The image may change, but if they make it onto the final $20 bill, Maxwell will forever have that connection.”

‘It Was an Awesome Experience’

John Wallace stood out among fellow students in the archaeology field course at the Harriet Tubman Home—quite literally. He was 6'8", and not to mention, a celebrity.

He began the field course on the tail of a whirlwind professional basketball career that included seven seasons with the NBA. He’d left Syracuse University during his senior year in 1996 as a first-round draft pick for the New York Knicks.

Wallace—who also played internationally—returned to Syracuse to take the remaining courses needed to fulfill a bachelor’s degree. The Tubman course met one of his

tive,” he says. “In the process of digging up things from her house, you learned about Harriet Tubman’s history and what she went through. It solidified the notion, to me, that she was the bravest person to ever live.”

Wallace says it was “awesome” to touch items that Tubman might have handled. He says Armstrong also showed nearby properties that were part of the Underground Railroad. “To see all of that in person was chilling,” says Wallace.

academic requirements, but it also appealed to him. He’d grown up in nearby Rochester, New York, hearing stories about Tubman’s escape from slavery and her heroic work to save an untold number through the Underground Railroad.

“I wanted to learn more about Harriet Tubman,” he says. “I learned a little about her in school, but not enough.”

The course proved popular among student athletes during its nearly 20-year run, says Professor Douglas Armstrong. Students enjoyed the hands-on approach. The course also carried six credits and was offered in the summer, when many athletes were on campus for pre-season training.

Wallace took the field study with fellow Syracuse basketball and NBA alumnus Billy Owens ’92. He remembers the class started early in the morning. At first it seemed daunting, but they quickly came to look forward to it.

“It was an awesome experience—it was so informa-

Nowadays, Wallace splits his time between Connecticut, New York City and regular trips Upstate to visit family and friends from his hometown and SU. He’s still involved with the Knicks and several other professional endeavors, including work with textile and solar firms and occasional analysis for MSG Networks.

Wallace honors Tubman’s legacy by sharing her story often and by giving his time to uplift others. He’s especially passionate about providing support and mentorship to empower youth, and regularly gives talks at schools, recreation programs and other venues.

He is also involved with Heavenly Productions Foundation, a charity based in Armonk, New York, whose mission is to help children in need. Wallace helped the organization hand out over 20,000 backpacks filled with supplies to impoverished neighborhoods, from Staten Island to Rwanda.

“We’re trying to put smiles on kids’ faces,” he says.

—Jessica Youngman

John Wallace ’12 B.A. (Soc) is shown, front left, next to Billy Owens ’92 during an excavation at the Harriet Tubman Home. Both Syracuse University basketball legends played for the NBA before returning to complete their degrees.

“In the process of digging up things from her house, you learned about Harriet Tubman’s history and what she went through. It solidified the notion, to me, that she was the bravest person to ever live.”

—JOHN WALLACE

Syracuse basketball legend and former NBA player John Wallace ’12 is among the many athletes who participated in the field study.

Action for a Sustainable Future

Student intern Naomi Weinflash conducted research and collaborated on initiatives to advance sustainability on campus.

When Naomi Weinflash was looking for a way to make a tangible impact on campus, she gravitated toward an internship with Syracuse University’s Sustainability Management team.

“I liked the idea that I would be doing real work in my internship that would go to help the greater good on campus,” she says.

Weinflash, a double major in policy studies and citizenship and civic engagement in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School, researched how the University can offset travel emissions produced by its vehicles, buses, vans and general fleets. “Getting to practice and apply what I learn about policy in Maxwell on a carbon pricing policy I genuinely care about in my internship with Sustainability Management is a great opportunity,” she says.

Sustainability Management’s for-credit internship program lets students pursue projects that complement their major and explore their interest in sustainability. “No matter what your major is, sustainability plays a part in it,” says Sustainability Coordinator Meg Lowe, who manages the growing program. “Students in our office work on realworld projects that we need help completing, and every project is useful for the betterment of Syracuse University.”

The internship program is enhanced by Sustainability Management’s relationship with Facilities Services. Past student-intern projects have focused on sourcing materials sustainably, fighting food insecurity and marketing sustainability on campus.

Weinflash’s research focused on recent legislation that was introduced in several states to begin taxing carbon

emissions. She examined how the University could implement a similar tax based on a greenhouse gas inventory that includes all travel for faculty, staff and students to and from campus. The revenue generated by this tax would go toward the purchase and planting of trees on campus.

The connections between Weinflash’s hands-on research and her coursework resonated. “Citizenship and civic engagement are about serving a community in its own way, because each community is different,” Weinflash says. “I knew that an internship with Sustainability Management would allow me to have an impact on the Syracuse campus.”

—Shaina M. Hill

Rising Seniors Selected for Summer Institutes

Four students have been selected to participate in the competitive Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) junior summer institutes. PPIA fellows are rising seniors who are committed to pursuing a master’s degree in public policy or international affairs and a professional career in public service. The program provides full tuition at a Junior Summer Institute, GRE preparation, a $5,000 scholarship at a PPIA graduate school (PPIA fellows often receive scholarships beyond this amount) and application fee waivers to graduate programs in the PPIA consortium.

THE FOUR ARE:

MAYA BENJAMIN, a policy studies major in the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program

ANDREA SANCHEZ, a political science and policy studies major in the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences

AIDARUUS SHIRWA, a policy studies and economics major in the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences

HAILEY WILLIAMS, a policy studies major in the Maxwell School and College of Arts and Sciences, a political philosophy major in the College of Arts and Sciences, a Coronat Scholar and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program

Benjamin will attend the institute at the University of California, Berkeley; Sanchez at Carnegie Mellon University; and Shirwa and Williams at the University of Washington.

Naomi Weinflash makes connections between hands-on sustainability research and her policy studies coursework.

—Kelly Homan Rodoski

JEREMY BRINN

Chilean President Travels Coach— Right Next to a Maxwell Student

The lucky coincidence was a highlight of Rohan Popenoe’s research trip to Chile, made possible by several Syracuse University programs and people.

BY RENÉE K. GADOUA

Rohan Popenoe lost an argument with his sister over which of them would have to take the seat next to a crying baby on their flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, Chile, in late December 2021.

Just as he settled into the seat, a somewhat deflated Popenoe took note of a fellow passenger headed down the aisle in his direction. Popenoe immediately recognized his beard and a trademark tattoo on his arm showing a storm encircled lighthouse in the Strait of Magellan: The approaching passenger was none other than Gabriel Boric, the 35-year-old president-elect of Chile.

seven-minute exchange, while his parents recorded video from their cell phones a few rows over.

“We talked about his role in facilitating the new constitution, the reasons behind strong Chilean institutions,” he said. “He was very amiable, no rough edges, and genuinely interested in our conversation.”

The encounter was the centerpiece of a successful trip that was made possible by several University programs and people, not the least of which was a Chilean alumnus Popenoe got to know a few years earlier at Maxwell: Ricardo Mena ’19 E.M.P.A.

Mena served as a teaching assistant during Popenoe’s sophomore year for the Modern Latin America course taught by Gladys McCormick, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion and Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations. It was in that class that Popenoe developed an interest in Chile. McCormick became his thesis advisor.

During his Syracuse Abroad visit to Chile, Rohan Popenoe toured the Convencion Constitutional de Chile—home of the Constitutional Convention that was charged with drafting a new constitution for the Republic of Chile.

Popenoe, who earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations this past May, could not believe his luck. He was in Chile on a threeweek Syracuse Abroad trip to research his honors thesis, focused on the Chilean discontentment that led to a rewrite of the country’s constitution and the election of the unconventional leftist, Boric.

“He sat down right in front of me, in economy class with everyone else,” recalled Popenoe. “People started to recognize him, and he shook their hands and gave autographs.”

From the other side of the plane, Popenoe’s sister and parents—who had joined him for the first week of his trip— sent texts urging him to seize the opportunity to meet him and ask Boric a few questions for his project.

“I took my chance. I got his attention through the seat by saying his name twice, and then asked him if he would take five minutes to answer a few of my questions. He said ‘Yes, but later in the flight.’”

Two hours later, Popenoe leaned forward and began interviewing Boric between the seats. He recorded the

“I began to follow current events in the country and made plans to study abroad,” said Popenoe. “I wanted to study Chile’s constitutional referendum and the social upheaval there. I wanted to visit and get a good feel for the country because it was important to the region and to the world.”

The study abroad trip was nearly derailed by COVID and shortened to three weeks instead of a semester. The frustrations and worry wound up being for naught: The trip

SUBMITTED

Rohan Popenoe is shown leaning forward in his seat to interview the then-president-elect of Chile, Gabriel Boric. Popenoe’s family, seated across the aisle on the flight, captured the image.

SUBMITTED

was the experience of a lifetime and perfectly timed since it not only coincided with Popenoe’s senior year research needs but also happenings in the Chilean government.

The experience was made possible with a grant from the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) and the support and encouragement of McCormick, the Syracuse Abroad Santiago team—Mauricio Paredes and Paula Lopehandia— and, of course, Mena.

In Chile, Mena was then working as a policy adviser for Santiago’s regional government. A year after earning his executive master of public administration, he learned about Maxwell’s new Alumni Ambassador Program and quickly applied. In the fall of 2020, he joined its inaugural cohort.

Upon hearing about Popenoe’s plans, Mena was happy to help.

“Ricardo was the main reason I was able to get interviews with people working on the constitution, scholars and people from NGOs,” said Popenoe. “He connected me with some great individuals who had interesting opinions. My expectations were far exceeded.”

Some experiences surprised him. “I was expecting a gung-ho attitude about the new constitution and setting an example for the world,” he said. “There was more pessimism than I expected. Some people did not have a lot of faith in their government and this new system. Changing negative perceptions is one of the goals of my thesis project.”

Mena learned a few things, too. “It was very interesting for me to see this situation from the outside with another Maxwell colleague,” he said, adding that he is eager to continue working with the Maxwell Alumni Ambassador and Syracuse Abroad Santiago programs. He recently began a new position as a program officer for Chile and South Cone at IDEA International. “This experience was very interesting for me. I can be more than a tour guide. I can help with internships or contacts in the public sector or research.”

After completing his degree this May, Popenoe will take a few months off and then go to work; he has already been hired as a business development analyst for a financial technology firm. He is also considering graduate school—law or political science. Ultimately, he hopes for a career that will enable him to travel the globe and experience new cultures.

He is already dreaming about a return to Chile and plans to send Boric’s office a translated copy of his thesis and a thank-you note.

Boric took office on March 11. Popenoe has closely followed him in the international media. He has also had plenty of time to reflect on their airplane meeting.

“I was riding a cloud for the whole trip,” added Popenoe. “I could not believe how lucky I was to have been able to do that.”

—Includes reporting by Jessica Youngman

MORE ONLINE: Visit maxwell.syr. edu/rohaninterview to see Rohan Popenoe talk about what it was like to meet the president

The Alumni Ambassador Program

Ricardo Mena ’19 E.M.P.A. is among the first to have joined the Maxwell School’s Alumni Ambassador Program following its launch in the fall of 2020. The program was designed by the Office of Enrollment Management to provide networking, mentorship and other supportive services to prospective and current Maxwell students. Just shy of two years later, the program boasts 233 ambassadors who represent a diverse mix of degree programs and professional pursuits. Interested in joining? Passionate, engaged alumni are encouraged to apply in the summer of 2022, when applications will again be accepted. To learn more, visit maxwell.syr.edu/ambassador-program

Ricardo Mena

Rohan Popenoe, left, is shown interviewing Ricardo Montero Allende, a Chilean lawyer who was elected as a member of the Chilean Constitutional Convention. Montero Allende is one of several constituents Popenoe met with during his trip to research his honors thesis.

“Ricardo was the main reason I was able to get interviews with people working on the constitution, scholars and people from NGOs. He connected me with some great individuals who had interesting opinions. My expectations were far exceeded.”

—ROHAN POPENOE

Rachelly Buzzi ’22 Named Pickering Fellow

International relations major Rachelly Buzzi ’22 was named a 2022 Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellow. She was one of only 45 recipients chosen from hundreds of applicants from around the nation.

Funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Washington Center, the Pickering Fellowship awards recipients receive two years of financial support, mentoring and professional development to prepare them for a career in the Foreign Service. Fellows will also complete a domestic internship at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., and an overseas internship at a U.S. embassy.

Buzzi is motivated to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs and a career in the Foreign Service partly because of her own family history. “My diverse family background—my parents immigrated from Puerto Rico and Cuba and my grandparents came from Syria, Spain and Italy—has given me insight into international perspectives and an appreciation for cultural adaptability,” she says. “I am committed to pursuing a career in the Foreign Service because its mission aligns with my values of service and global understanding as well as with my academic interests.”

Buzzi was a Posse Scholar, a Downey Scholar with the Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence and an SU Invest in Success Scholar. As an international relations

Buzzi

major, she completed a topic concentration in intercultural communication and a geographic region concentration in Latin America and the Caribbean. She minored in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises at the Whitman School.

Buzzi participated in the University’s Maxwellin-Washington Program and took classes at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on international policy and global humanitarian and security issues. She also interned with the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. “This internship allowed me to enhance my knowledge of the department and its impact, and to be part of a team focused on research and the Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy initiative,” she says.

This past summer, Buzzi was selected as a fellow with the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Additionally, Buzzi has participated in the University CAS-Maxwell Model United Nations delegation since spring 2020, representing countries as diverse as Venezuela, China, Japan and most recently, Kenya. In spring 2021, she served as co-head of the delegation and was responsible for preparing the other delegates for the conference by leading them through public speaking exercises and reviewing and editing drafts of position papers.

Canada Bound

Maggie Sardino, a rising senior citizenship and civic engagement major in the Maxwell School and writing and rhetoric major in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been selected as a recipient of a 2022 award through the Fulbright Canada Mitacs Globalink Program.

The program funds U.S. students to undertake advanced research projects in a wide range of disciplines for 10-12 weeks in Canada in their area of interest. It also provides professional training and opportunities for cultural and social experiences in Canada.

Sardino was awarded a placement at the University of Victoria in British Columbia to work on a project titled “Digital Humanities: Open Scholarship.”

She said she was inspired to apply for the program because it presented her with an opportunity to engage in cutting-edge communi-

“Her supportive and empathetic leadership style helped her fellow delegates earn a recognition award at the conference,” says Francine D’Amico, teaching professor and director of undergraduate studies in international relations in the Maxwell School and College of Arts and Sciences.

Outside of the classroom, Buzzi has worked at a South African education nonprofit, the LaCasita Cultural Center, and at the University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs. She has volunteered with the Conflict Management Center and held several positions in Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity.

“As a first-generation Latina college student and first-generation American, I want to join the Foreign Service because I firmly believe in the transformative diplomatic power of representing the diversity of our country,” Buzzi says. “I want to promote peace, analyze policy and aid people abroad.”

“Rachelly’s academic accomplishments, record of campus and community engagement, language skills and longstanding interest in foreign affairs make her an excellent fit for the Pickering Fellowship and a career in the Foreign Service,” says Jolynn Parker, director of the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising. “Rachelly is extraordinarily well-prepared and perfectly suited to contribute to the mission of the Foreign Service.”

—Kelly Homan Rodoski

ty-based research. “Canada is one of the leading countries in this field of research and learning,” she says. “I could not pass up on an opportunity to be trained and mentored by the leaders within community-based research.”

She also said she appreciates the program’s emphasis on the importance of building relationships across the U.S. and Canada. “As someone who has not had much opportunity to travel, being able to experience living in another country and being supported by the Fulbright network presented me with the resources to immerse myself in another country and expand my perspective,” she says.

—Kelly Homan Rodoski

Rachelly

Maggie Sardino

Kate Ryan ’22 was a leader on the women’s rowing team, which is celebrating 44 years of competition this year, and placed a program-best 10th at the 2021 NCAA championships.

Staying the Course

Champion rower Kate Ryan’s love of water is propelling her toward a career in environmental policy.

K ate Ryan ’22 has a pact with fellow crew member Eliza Yager ’22 that set the tone for each rowing season. “Eliza and I promise to pull 10 percent harder for each other, even if we’re not in the same boat,” says the six-foot senior. “The idea of pulling for your teammates rather than yourself is popular with the entire crew.”

Given the Orange’s performances at the 2021 ACC and NCAA women’s rowing championships, where they respectively finished third and a program-best 10th, the pact has proven successful. Prior to last spring, the women’s rowing team had not placed higher than 12th at the famed NCAA regatta.

Ryan was integral to the success of the 44-year-old program. A veteran of the Second Varsity Eight (2V8) boat, Ryan sat behind Yager at the stern, emulating and transmitting her every move to the rest of the crew. Ryan considered Yager more than a pair partner. The latter also is 2V8’s “stroke” rower, the person responsible for setting the stroke rate and intensity. Together, the duo contributed to what is known as “swing” in rowing parlance—the graceful, synchronous alignment of bodies and blades. “Kate and Eliza implicitly trust one another,” says Head Coach Luke McGee. “This breeds confidence and puts everyone else at ease.”

Ryan brought a similar determination to academics: as a triple major in the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences, she studied biology; geography and the environment; sustainability and policy. Her goal is to someday work in environmental policy. “I’m fascinated by how the natural and human sciences impact the environment and sustainability,” says Ryan. “Understanding our planet can make us more engaged citizens.”

Ryan became interested in plant ecology during a first-year biology course. While everyone else was studying “anatomy and how muscles worked,” she turned her attention to plants.

Ryan has since had several lightbulb moments. One of them was

an Honors course called The Role of Science in Environmental Governance, culminating in a trip to Geneva, Switzerland. It was there that Ryan participated in the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Then a second-year student, Ryan says the trip taught her volumes about the mercury cycle—the process by which mercury converts from one form to another. Human activities like coal burning and ore mining, she explains, can contaminate water sources with inorganic mercury. “When converted to methylmercury, this form of mercury can be highly toxic and absorbed in the bodies of fish. Ironically, countries that emit the most mercury, like China and Mexico, have relatively small amounts of fish in their diets,” says Ryan.

Ryan was a regular at nearby Onondaga Lake, where she trains as a rower and scientist. The 4.6-mile-long lake, once the country’s most polluted, is in the throes of an aggressive mercury clean-up effort.

Fascinated by the Clean Water Act, Ryan studied policy solutions that inform Onondaga Lake’s site investigations and remediation activities. She says that even though federal attention to mercury clean-up has “slowed and transitioned” to water-quality monitoring programs, she admires the current local determination to restoring the lake’s ecological health and recreational value.

Thus, while gliding across Onondaga Lake—now its cleanest in nearly a century—Ryan often turned inward. She sometimes transports herself to a memorable race in 2019, when she and Yager helped 20th-ranked Syracuse defeat No. 7 Princeton in a “David vs. Goliath” matchup for the ages. “I think about that race a lot, whenever I doubt myself or need the confidence to compete against someone who is supposedly faster or better,” Ryan concludes. “With trust and tenacity, I can achieve the unexpected.”

—Rob Enslin

At the Helm

Sociologist Shannon Monnat has been named director of the Center for Policy Research.

Ademographer and sociologist whose work focuses on population health will serve as the next director of the Center for Policy Research (CPR), the oldest interdisciplinary social science research program at the Maxwell School.

Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion and professor of sociology, will begin the position on July 1, 2022. She served as the director of the Maxwell School’s Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and co-directs the Policy, Place and Population Health Lab.

“Professor Monnat is a nationally recognized sociologist and interdisciplinary policy scholar who brings energy and intellectual leadership to the Maxwell School and Syracuse University,” says Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke. “Her timely and highly cited scholarship informs and benefits public policy and the public good. Her previous leadership as director of the Lerner Center resulted in significant achievements in research, extramural funding, programming and student engagement. She is well-qualified to lead CPR.”

Monnat has been the PI or co-investigator for over $10 million in external research funding from the NIH as well as the National Institute of Justice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

Monnat serves as the PI for the National Well-Being Survey which collects information on physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of working-age adults in the U.S. She has authored or co-authored nearly 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 50 book chapters and research briefs. In March 2022, she served as a panelist for a Congressional briefing on demographic trends in rural America. She also served on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus committee that produced a report in 2021 on rising working-age mortality rates in the U.S.

Monnat joined Maxwell in 2017. Since then, she has served as a senior research associate for CPR as well as an affiliate to the Center for Aging and Policy Studies and the Aging Studies Institute.

She succeeds Leonard Lopoo, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics and professor of public administration and international affairs, as director of CPR.

“CPR is home to some of the top scholars in the country who conduct policy-relevant research on the most pressing social, economic, health and environmental issues of our time,” she says. “I am excited to build on the strong foundation left by the current director, Len Lopoo, to support our faculty and students in conducting rigorous policy-relevant research and disseminating knowledge that enables leaders to develop effective solutions to these critical challenges.”

Monnat studies demographic and geographic trends and disparities in health and mortality, with an interest in rural health. One area of her research has focused on the factors that explain why drug overdose rates are higher in some places in the U.S. than others.

More recently, her research has examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. She is the principal investigator (PI) for a five-year research project that will examine the impacts of state’s mitigation policies, such as stay-at-home orders and extended unemployment benefits, on adult psychological health, drug overdose and suicide.

The COVID research project is funded with $1.95 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). All told,

Established in 1994, CPR includes faculty from across Maxwell—mainly economics, public administration and sociology—who bring a depth of experience and skill to research and offer students a wealth of opportunity for discussion and advice on their own research, as well as the possibility of research assistantships. CPR also provides a base for visiting scholars from the United States and abroad. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, faculty typically work on a variety of research related to public policy. Faculty also consult regularly with government agencies and other institutions concerned with the issues they are studying.

—Jessica Youngman

Shannon Monnat

“CPR is home to some of the top scholars in the country who conduct policy-relevant research on the most pressing social, economic, health and environmental issues of our time. I am excited to build on the strong foundation left by the current director . . .”

— SHANNON MONNAT

Saba Siddiki Named Chapple Professor

She says the professorship will enable her to expand her research and engage students.

Saba Siddiki has been named the Chapple Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy. She is the fourth faculty member to hold the professorship, created in 2006 with a gift from alumnus and Maxwell School Advisory Board member John H. Chapple ’75 B.A. (PSc)/’11 Hon.

Siddiki joined the Maxwell School in 2017 and is an associate professor of public administration and international affairs. She says the professorship will help support her research, which examines the designs of institutions that communities use to solve public problems and how governments engage non-governmental organizations and citizens in public problem solving, policy design and policy implementation.

“I’m honored to serve as the Chapple professor,” says Siddiki, who earned a Ph.D. in public affairs from the University of Colorado in 2011. “The professorship will enable me to expand my research and help me engage students in creative ways to support their understanding of institutions, policy design, governance, and the public policy process more generally.”

Siddiki is the founder and co-director of the Institutional Grammar Research Initiative, a consortium of scholars from around the world who work to uncover and define

the commonalities, or “grammar,” of successful democratic institutions. Their efforts lead to the development of frameworks for future policy and governance design.

Additionally, she is a senior research associate with the Center for Policy Research and a research affiliate with the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute. She teaches courses such as Data-Driven Decision Making, the Public Policy Process, Policy Design and Implementation and Environmental Governance.

Siddiki has helped secure $4.2 million in research funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other organizations. Included is a $2.5 million grant from the NSF and U.S. Department of Agriculture that has enabled her to examine the role of food policy councils in food policy design and implementation and how these councils are helping cities address critical issues facing local food systems.

Her work has been published in leading public affairs journals, including the Policy Studies Journal, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Public Administration, among others. She is also the author of three books on policy design, institutional analysis and policy compliance.

—Jessica Youngman

JEREMY BRINN

Saba Siddiki, shown third from left, with graduate students in the spring 2022 semester, is the fourth Maxwell faculty member to hold the professorship.

New Books

EDWIN ACKERMAN, assistant professor of sociology, examines two nationalist insurrections that were largely composed of a peasant-base in Mexico in 1921 and Bolivia in 1952 in his book, Origins of the Mass Party: Dispossession and the Party-Form in Mexico and Bolivia in Comparative Perspective (University of Oxford Press, 2021). In both cases, insurrectionists triumphed over oligarchical regimes, and groups led by upper-middle class intelligentsia who adopted populist agrarian discourse attempted to incorporate the large predominantly peasant base into their parties. Ackerman finds the insurrection in Mexico to have been radically different than the insurrection in Bolivia.

SEAN J. DRAKE, assistant professor of sociology, looks at how race and class intersect, contributing to educational inequality and modern school segregation in his book, Academic Apartheid: Race and the Criminalization of Failure in an American Suburb (University of California Press, 2022). Drake focuses on two high schools in a racially diverse southern California suburb. He draws on over two years of ethnographic observations and dozens of interviews to highlight the ways in which hidden institutional mechanisms lead to both overt segregation and symbolic criminalization of Black, Latinx and lower-income students. He describes how conventional definitions of student success and failure are used to justify racial and socioeconomic segregation in the district, and how local immigrant groups leverage their resources to help their students succeed.

DIMITAR GUEORGUIEV, associate professor of political science, investigates how the Chinese Communist Party has maintained power in the People’s Republic of China throughout reforms and rapid development in his book, Retrofitting Leninism: Participation without Democracy in China (Oxford University Press, 2021). Gueorguiev argues that the key to the Communist Party’s longevity is its ability to integrate authoritarian control with social inclusion through modern telecommunications technologies. Using statistical data, media reports and opinion polls, Gueorguiev explores how policy planning within the Chinese Communist Party incorporates public input to maintain its power.

AMY LUTZ, associate professor of sociology, is the co-author of Parenting in Privilege or Peril: How Social Inequality Enables or Derails the American Dream (Teachers College Press, 2021). The book examines how social contexts and culture affect parenting decisions. Lutz cowrote it with Pamela R. Bennett, associate professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Lakshmi Jayaram, president of the Inquiry Research Group LLC and affiliate with the University of Central Florida. The authors analyze class differences in parents’ social contexts—neighborhoods, schools and networks. They demonstrate that cultural differences are no match for economic inequalities and call for a public policy shift away from trying to change how working-class parents raise their children toward improving their social contexts.

MARK MONMONIER, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography and the Environment, tells the story of a farmer-turned-inventor in his new book, Clock and Compass: How John Byron Plato Gave Farmers a Real Address (University of Iowa Press, 2022). The title’s namesake attended a Denver vocational high school, became a farmer in his mid-30s, and patented several inventions including the “Clock System,” which assigned addresses to rural residences without house numbers. Plato invented the system after he encountered obstacles selling his cattle using the existing Rural Free Delivery number system for mail. His map-and-directory combination provided farmers a real address, just like people had in the city. Monmonier has authored more than 20 books, including the first general textbook on computer-assisted cartography and How to Lie with Maps which in December 2020 was named one of the “eight essential books for geographers” by Geographical Magazine, the National Geographic of the United Kingdom.

TESSA MURPHY, associate professor of history, traces how generations of Indigenous Kalinagos, free and enslaved Africans and settlers from a variety of European nations, used maritime routes to forge connections that spanned the eastern Caribbean in her book, The Creole Archipelago: Race and Borders in the Colonial Caribbean (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021). Murphy explains how these islands are distinct from other Caribbean colonial plantation societies, a result of the powers that competed for influence in the region, such as the British and French, as well as the Kalinagos, who continued asserting their right to their lands. Research materials included parish records, an Indigenous language dictionary, historical maps and colonial correspondence from France, England, the United States and the Caribbean.

ROBERT RUBINSTEIN AND SANDRA LANE are among the co-editors and contributors to a new social sciences book titled, The SAGE Handbook of Social Studies in Health and Medicine (SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022). Rubinstein, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and professor of international relations, wrote a chapter titled “Disaster and Health,” that examines the estimated 167.6 million people, including refugees, who were affected by disasters in 2020. Lane, professor of public health in Falk College and professor of anthropology by courtesy appointment, contributed two chapters, “Historical Trauma and Epigenetics” and “Gender and Health.” Sociology doctoral student Wencheng Zhang and anthropology graduate student Mariel Rivera co-wrote the chapters with Lane. In addition, Jok Madut Jok, professor of anthropology, co-wrote the chapter, “Refugees, Life in Host Communities, and the Health Challenges” with anthropology graduate student Julia McDaniel. Jay Jeong Hyun Park ’18 B.A. (Soc) is co-author of the chapter “Social and Geopolitical Factors Influencing Trends in Substance Use,” which explores the sociological factors shaping drug use trends.

Scholars Join Geography and the Environment Department

One of them, Chie Sakakibara, is a cluster hire for the Native American and Indigenous Studies program.

At the start of the spring 2022 semester, the Maxwell School’s Geography and the Environment Department welcomed two new faculty members, one of whom was hired as part of the University’s research clusters initiative.

Chie Sakakibara, associate professor of geography and the environment and Native American and Indigenous studies, is a scholar in global Indigenous environmental studies and one of two recent cluster hires for the Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) program shared by Maxwell and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Sakakibara’s work explores the interplay of climate change and Indigenous resilience. She is of Ryūkyūan descent, an Indigenous group of southwestern Japan including the Okinawan archipelago and its diaspora within and beyond Japan. Her research focuses on the humanistic dimensions of global climate change in Native North America, specifically on Indigenous sovereignty, health and well-being and environmental justice in Arctic Alaska.

Sakakibara holds a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Oklahoma, with an undergraduate degree in Native American studies from the same institution. She previously served as an associate professor in the environmental studies program at Oberlin College and has published widely in academic journals. Her work in the Arctic has received three grants from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Arctic Social Sciences Program, and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium,

resulting in the publication of her recent book, Whale Snow: Iñupiat, Climate Change, and Multispecies Resilience in Arctic Alaska (University of Arizona Press, 2020), which was awarded the American Association of Geographers Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Books in Geography.

Also joining the faculty is Karl Offen, professor of geography and the environment. His research focuses on historical geography, political ecology, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Atlantic world and map studies.

Before joining Maxwell, Offen served as a faculty member at Oberlin College for six years, two of which were as chair of the environmental studies program. He was a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma from 2000–2015.

Offen’s published works include two books, The Awakening Coast: An Anthology of Moravian Writings from Mosquitia and Eastern Nicaragua, 1849-1899 (University of Nebraska Press, 2014) and Mapping Latin America: A Cartographic Reader (University of Chicago Press, 2011). He serves on the editorial board for the Atlantic Crossings book series (University of Alabama Press, 2022-present), the Journal of Historical Geography and Mesoamérica. He formerly served as the chair of the Conference of Latin American Geography.

Offen earned a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999.

—Jessica Youngman

Sociologist Named Co-Director of Lender Center

Gretchen W. Purser, associate professor of sociology, has been appointed co-director of the Lender Center for Social Justice. Her appointment begins on July 1. She will serve alongside co-director James Haywood Rolling Jr., professor of arts education in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and teaching and leadership in the School of Education, who was appointed co-director in September 2021.

Launched in September 2018, the Lender Center was funded by a $5 million gift by Syracuse University Life Trustee Marvin Lender ’63 B.A. (PSc)/’19 Hon. and his wife, Helene Lender ’65 to create a multidisciplinary center that would include research support, symposia, and faculty and student fellowships. The Lender Center at first was administered by the School of Education but has since moved into Academic Affairs.

Karl Offen

Purser’s research focuses on work and labor disparities, urban poverty, social theory, ethnography, community-based action, law and punishment, and housing and homelessness. Last fall she was part of a three-member team that received a $350,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to investigate how building local power among tenants can enhance community health and well-being.

Purser was the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Ralph E. Montonna Professorship in 2020, the same year she received the Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award. In 2013, she received the Meredith Teaching Recognition Award. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Chie Sakakibara

Gretchen W. Purser

Top Practitioners Join Washington Programs

JON B. ALTERMAN is senior vice president, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy and director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS in 2002, he served as a member of the policy planning staff at the U.S. Department of State and as a special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and from 2009–2019 he served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel.

STEPHEN LENNON is coordinator for the International Organization for Migration’s efforts to support Afghan evacuees in the United States. He previously held several roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, including as the director of the Office of Transition Initiatives. While there, he advised on organizational transformation, policy and collaboration.

TAMMY S. SCHULTZ is director of national security and a professor of strategic studies at the U.S. Marine Corps War College. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Additionally, she works as an adjunct professor in Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program and conducts communication plenaries and simulations for foreign services officers with the State Department.

Also in the News

LEONARD LOPOO, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics and professor of public administration and international affairs, is one of 13 scholars from across the country who have been selected to serve on a prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel.

The panel is reviewing evidence regarding the application of insights from behavioral economics to key public policy objectives, including public health, chronic illness, economic well-being and responses to global climate change.

Panelists are also examining frontiers in the field, asking what happens when behavioral economics intersects with related disciplines, including cognitive psychology, social psychology and the decision sciences.

Lopoo, who is founding director of the Maxwell X Lab and is finishing his term as director of the Center for Policy Research, says behavioral economics can be applied in practical ways to examine things such as why people do or do not apply for government benefits or, say, a pension program. Often, he says, there are information barriers or stigma associated with participation.

The national panel includes researchers from Duke University, Princeton University, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

JAMES-CHRISTIAN BLOCKWOOD is executive vice president of the Partnership for Public Service whose previous roles include service as a career member of the Senior Executive Service, managing director at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, director in the Office of Policy and Planning at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, deputy director in the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and an intelligence officer at the U.S. Department of Defense.

MARK MONMONIER, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography and the Environment, was named a 2021 Fellow by the American Association of Geographers. Fellows are conferred for life based on their contributions to geographic research, the advancement of practice, teaching, mentoring and overall strengthening of the field of geography. Monmonier has published over 20 books in the field of geographic information systems, the history of cartography in the twentieth century, map design and environmental mapping. He has won numerous awards and held various esteemed positions in the field. Awards include a Guggenheim fellowship in 1984, the American Geographical Society’s O. M. Miller Medal in 2001, the Pennsylvania State University’s Charles L. Hosler Alumni Scholar Medal in 2007, and the German Cartographic Society’s Mercator Medal in 2009. In 2016 he was inducted into the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association’s GIS Hall of Fame.

JAMIE WINDERS, professor of geography and the environment, was named associate provost for faculty affairs for Syracuse University, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Winders has been at Syracuse since 2004. She is the founding director of the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute and she was chair of the department of geography and the environment from 2014–2019.

Leonard Lopoo

Mark Monmonier

Jamie Winders

ARTHUR SIDNEY is senior vice president of government relations at Forbes Tate Partners, a bipartisan government and public affairs advocacy firm located in Washington, D.C. He served as chief of staff, chief counsel and legislative director to two members of Congress for over 12 years. He also previously worked as an attorney for the Department of Commerce and has been an adjunct professor at area law schools and universities since 1999.

SEAN MCFATE is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, professor of strategy at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the National Defense University and an advisor to Oxford University’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs. He’s an expert on 21st-century war, changing international relations, and mercenaries who also serves as a consultant to the Pentagon, CIA and the film industry.

KATHLEEN J. MCINNIS is a specialist in international security at the Congressional Research Service and nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Transatlantic Security Initiative and Forward Defense practice. She has worked as a research consultant at Chatham House in London and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

As associate provost, Winders oversees all aspects of faculty recruitment, hiring and appointments, third-year reviews and promotion and tenure as well as policy oversight for faculty affairs. She also provides leadership for faculty on-boarding, mentoring and development, including new faculty orientation and awards and recognitions.

ALFONSO FLORES-LAGUNES, professor of economics, has been named president-elect of the American Society of Hispanic Economists (ASHE). His three-year term began Jan. 1, 2022. He will serve as president-elect for the first year, president for the second year and past-president for the third and final year.

The ASHE was founded in 2002 to promote the vitality of Hispanics in the economics profession through education, service and excellence.

Flores-Lagunes joined the Maxwell faculty in 2014 and additionally serves as the director of doctoral studies for the Department of Economics, is a Melvin A. Eggers Faculty Scholar and a senior research associate in the Center for Policy Research. His research focuses on the economics of labor markets and economic evaluation of government programs and institutions. His work often explores the differential impact of policies across groups defined by race and ethnicity.

CATHERINE HERROLD, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, has been awarded the Virginia A. Hodgkinson Research Book Prize for her book, Delta Democracy: Pathways to Incremental Civic Revolution in Egypt and Beyond (Oxford University Press, 2020).

The prize was awarded in November 2021 by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. The organization, composed of a diverse community of scholars and practitioners, awards the prize to one book each year that best informs policy and practice in the nonprofit sector.

In Delta Democracy, Herrold reveals the culturally resonant and politically smart ways that Egyptian NGOs promoted democracy after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. She also provides policy recommendations for the reform of U.S. democracy assistance.

The book prize’s namesake, Virginia Hodgkinson, is widely recognized for her work to advance the understanding of the role of nonprofits in the United States and abroad. She also was instrumental in developing institutions and organizations that support research on philanthropy, volunteering and nonprofit organizations.

Alfonso FloresLagunes

Catherine Herrold

Simon Weschle Honored with Moynihan Award

Simon Weschle, assistant professor of political science, is this year’s recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research.

The Moynihan Award is presented annually in recognition of a non-tenured faculty member of the Maxwell School with an outstanding record of teaching, research and service. Established eponymously in 1985 by thenU.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, himself a former member of the Maxwell School’s junior faculty, the award is intended to help Maxwell recognize and retain promising scholars.

Weschle joined Maxwell in 2017. His research focuses on money in politics, corruption, democratic accountability and representation, comparative political economy, and quantitative methods.

“Both in terms of the number of publications and also the placement of these articles, Simon is in the top tier of researchers not just in the department but also in the field,” said his nominator, Shana Kushner Gadarian, professor and chair of political science and Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking.

In her nomination letter, Gadarian highlighted his numerous peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in top journals like the American Political Science Review,

the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, and The Journal of Politics

Weschle’s first book Money in Politics. Self-Enrichment, Campaign Spending, and Golden Parachutes is forthcoming in July 2022 with Cambridge University Press.

Gadarian also lauded Weschle for his advocacy for students. She pointed out how he took note that students in the challenging methods course, PSC 202: Introduction to Political Analysis, expressed anxiety about their mathematical abilities. Recognizing that this was more pronounced among women and traditionally under-represented groups, Weschle worked with the Center for Learning and Student Success to develop techniques in class to help students gain competence and confidence in math.

Additionally, Weschle often mentors undergraduate and graduate students on research projects. In the 202021 academic year, he served on three dissertation committees and was an advisor for a distinction thesis that received an honorable mention at the Maxwell School Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship. In recognition of his service to students he was awarded the 2021 Ben and Marcia Baldanza Faculty Advisor of the Year Award.

—Jewell Bohlinger

Simon Weschle

Susan and James Willie, who both earned master of public administration degrees in 1998, attended the inaugural Awards of Excellence in April to accept an honor posthumously, on behalf of James’ father, the late Charles V. Willie ’57 Ph.D. (Soc)/’92 Hon.

Recognizing Excellence

Dear alumni and friends,

Maxwell recently convened our inaugural Awards of Excellence in Washington, D.C. We were excited to come together as a community to celebrate public service in all of its forms and honor our 2022 awardees. Guests included our alumni and students who, in their professional and volunteer roles, live out their commitment to public service.

Among the individuals attending the Maxwell Advisory Board’s semi-annual meeting earlier in the day was Susan Willie ’98 M.P.A. Along with her husband, James Willie '98 M.P.A., she attended the Awards of Excellence to accept the Maxwell Advocate Award on behalf of her father-in-law, the late Charles V. Willie ’57 Ph.D. (Soc)/’92 Hon. Susan is an exemplary public servant. For much of her career, she has worked for the Congressional Budget Office, where in her current role as a unit chief in the Budget Analysis Division, she and her team provide nonpartisan analysis for Congress in a number of areas, including natural resources, transportation and agriculture.Her expertise and perspective are important to our advisory board, which is comprised of alumni from an array of professions. Members have a pivotal role in guiding decisions that directly impact Maxwell’s community of students, faculty, staff and alumni.

In addition to devoting her time to the board, Susan is a frequent volunteer guest lecturer in public budgeting for Maxwell’s online executive master of public administration program. She has shared her expertise on the federal budget every term the course has been offered—14

times—to students around the world. Course instructor Brian Ohl, a faculty member in the online program, says Susan “is very generous with her time and her knowledge, supporting and inspiring our students and going the extra mile to modify her presentations based on current events and budget issues.”

Susan’s service exemplifies the ideals of her late father-in-law, which brings me back to the Awards of Excellence. Included in the printed event program was a quote from Charles Willie that illustrates this ability for each of us to have an impact: “It is an ancient custom, as ancient as the Roman Empire, to idolize those whom we honor, to make them larger than life, to give their marvelous accomplishments a magical and mystical origin. …By idolizing those whom we honor, we fail to realize that we could go and do likewise.”

Here’s how you can engage with the the Maxwell School:

Connect with Maxwell students through classroom visits, career talks, our Alumni Ambassador program and more. Contact the alumni office at maxalum@syr.edu to learn more about these opportunities.

Think of Maxwell when looking to fill roles at your organization. Reach out to the Palmer Career Center at maxcareers@syr.edu for information about how to share internship and employment opportunities with students and alumni.

Complete Maxwell’s Alumni Update Form at maxwell.syr.edu/ updateform to pass along your career news, so we can celebrate your achievement, share with the alumni network and update our alumni records.

We invite you to stay connected with us through events, campus connections and more— and watch for future Awards of Excellence communications this fall!

Stay well,

Jessica Murray Director of Alumni Relations

Jessica Murray

SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTE

Online: maxwell.syr.edu/ submit-class-note

Email: maxalum@syr.edu

Post Office: 200 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, N.Y. 13244

KEY TO DEGREES

Alumni are designated by year of graduation, degree level and (in parentheses) discipline—for example: Joan Smith ’87 M.A. (Soc). A few of the degree abbreviations indicate both level and discipline, such as M.P.A. and M.S.Sc. Alumni with more than one degree from Maxwell are listed under the year of the latest degree.

AmSt American Studies

Anth Anthropology

CCE Citizenship and Civic Engagement

ESP Environment, Sustainability and Policy

E.M.I.R. Executive Master’s in International Relations

E.M.P.A. Executive Master of Public Administration

DFH Documentary Film and History

Econ Economics

Geog Geography

Hist History

IR International Relations

J.D. Law

LAS Latin American Studies

M.A. (IR) Master of Arts, International Relations

M.A. (IR)/

M.S.P.R. International Relations/ Public Relations (dual)

P.D.G.C. Master of Public Diplomacy and Global Communication

MES Middle Eastern Studies

M.P.A. Master of Public Administration

M.P.A./

M.A. (IR) Joint M.P.A. and M.A. (IR)

MPH Master of Public Health

M.Phil. Master of Philosophy

M.R.P. Master of Regional Planning

M.S.Sc. Master of Social Science

PA Public Administration

P.D. Public Diplomacy

PPhil Political Philosophy

PSt Policy Studies

PSc Political Science

RusSt Russian Studies

Soc Sociology

SPsy Social Psychology

SSc Social Science

UrSt Urban Studies

40s

Ann Bodie Ward ’47 B.A. (Soc)/’49 M.A. (Soc) is celebrating the 75th anniversary of her Syracuse University graduation from her home in Alexandria Bay, N.Y. While a student, she was involved with the Daily Orange student newspaper and served as president of the women’s student government. She says “Syracuse University and the Maxwell School were pivotal in my life. The five years getting my two degrees showed me the path and taught me skills that enabled me to succeed in life.”

50s

Arnold P. Etelson ’59 B.A. (PSc) retired after serving 54 years as a municipal judge for the village of Spring Valley, the town of Ramapo and the village of Montebello in Rockland County, N.Y.

60s

Howard Palley ’63 Ph.D. (SSc), professor emeritus in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, published three articles in 2021. “Review of Health Care in Switzerland: A Closer Look at a System Offered as a Model for the United States” was published in the Journal of Medicine and Surgical Sciences, while the Open Journal of Political Science featured two pieces: “The White Working Class and the Politics of Race in the United States and Race and Caste: Its Impact on the American Political System.”

Neil Gingold ’67 B.A. (PSc) is the Top 100 Lawyers’ attorney of the year in the state of New York. Gingold is the founding attorney of Neil M. Gingold Attorney at Law, Fayetteville, N.Y. With over 50 years of experience, he practices environmental law, real estate development and environmental remediation.

70s

Barbara Vorhees ’70 M.A. (Hist) has received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. The award is the highest civilian honor in N.C.

Stephen Soble ’72 B.A. (Hist/PSc) is on the board of directors for TerraScale, an organization which aims to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable planet through large-scale green infrastructure and technology development globally. TerraScale is located in Culver City, Calif.

Bruce Dearstyne ’74 Ph.D. (Hist) is the author of two new books. The second edition of his book The Spirit of New York: Defining Events in the Empire State’s History (SUNY Press, 2022), is a history of New York state through the narratives of 20 dramatic events from the first state constitution to the history behind the hit musical Hamilton. The Crucible of Public Policy: New York Courts in the Progressive Era (SUNY Press, 2022), analyzes Court of Appeals’ decisions from 1900-1920 that shaped key policies on social, economic and regulatory issues.

Robert Layton ’79 M.P.A. received the 2021 Board of Trustees award from Wichita State University. The award is given to a person who has made significant contributions to the partnership between Wichita State University and the surrounding community. Layton is currently the interim chief financial officer for Kansas City Community College.

80s

Bob Greene ’83 Ph.D. (Hist) has published a new book, The Presidency of George W. Bush (University Press of Kansas, 2021). The book uses Freedom of Information Act requests to explore newly released information and documents to expand notions about the Bush administration’s achievements.

Kent Olson ’83 M.P.A. retired after 37 years of local government financial management. He served as finance director for two suburbs in the Chicago region and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Craig Colten ’84 Ph.D. (Geog) joined the Water Institute of the Gulf as a senior advisor. Based in Baton Rouge, La., the Water Institute is a nonprofit, applied research institution advancing science and developing integrated methods to address environmental and societal challenges. In 2022, Colten also received the Gilbert White

Distinguished Public Service Honors Award from the American Association of Geographers. The award recognizes his contributions to the field of geography as a government employee and later as an academic.

Brian Burns ’85 B.A. (Econ/PSt) was elected to serve a 14-year term as a New York State supreme court justice, commencing at the beginning of 2021. He was also recently named to the Diversity Task Force for the 6th judicial district.

Richard Ramacier ’89 M.P.A. retired on Jan. 1, 2022, after 25 years of service to County Connection, a public transit agency based in Danville San Ramon, Calif.

90s

Jacqueline Kopito ’90 B.A. (AmSt) just published a book, Twintastic (Good Times Books, 2021). The book follows two identical twins who gain magical powers and use them to save a family restaurant.

Stacie Collier ’93 B.A. (PSt) was appointed chief talent officer at the global law firm Nixon Peabody. In addition to practicing law, she oversees the firm’s recruiting; retention; training; well-being; and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. She also serves on the advisory committee to Temple University’s Fox Business School’s Center for Ethics, Diversity and Workplace Culture.

Stephen Hagerty ’93 M.P.A. completed his term as mayor of Evanston, Ill., in May 2021. Prior to becoming mayor, Hagerty consulted with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, then founded his own emergency management firm, Hagerty Consulting, which assisted in recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy and other disasters. Hagerty also serves on the Maxwell School Advisory Board.

Pamela Caraccioli ’94 M.P.A. is president and chief executive officer of Fulton Savings Bank. She is also on the Richard S. Shineman Foundation Board of Directors. The Richard S. Shineman Foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life for Oswego County, N.Y., through grants, collaboration and nonprofit education and training.

Anne-Marie Deitering ’94 M.A. (Hist) has been named the Donald and Delpha Campbell Dean of Libraries for Oregon State University. Deitering oversees more than 100 staff members while working to build an inclusive process for employee retention, creating flexible library spaces that support student engagement, promoting innovative uses of technology, and continuing to ensure a transparent, equitable and anti-racist work environment.

Joila Hill ’94 M.P.A. has been named director of the charter schools program at Eastern Michigan University.

Daniel Aman ’95 B.A. (Geog/IR) was re-elected as town clerk for the town of Brighton, N.Y. Aman was first elected in 2011.

Norman Leffman ’95 M.P.A. retired in December 2021 after 17 years of service as assistant executive officer to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority.

Krista Peyton ’95 M.A. (PSc) was appointed associate circuit judge for St. Louis County in the 21st judicial circuit in the greater St. Louis, Mo., area.

Nancy Laird ’97 M.P.A. joined the Harvard Art Museums as the director of finance after working for Harvard University for 22 years.

Matthew Little ’97 M.P.A. was recently named the western region director of public policy for the Memphis-based Ducks Unlimited, an organization that supports the growth of duck populations and the future of waterfowl hunting.

Charlie Bush ’98 M.P.A. has been appointed city administrator of the city of Sedro-Woolley, Wash. Previously, he served as the city manager of Sequim, Wash.

Prashanth Jayachandran ’98

M.P.A. was appointed as a member of Syracuse University’s College of Law Board of Advisors. Jayachandran is chief supply chain counsel for Colgate-Palmolive Company.

Mark L. Loeben ’98 M.S.Sc. was recently appointed chairman of the National Aerospace Research & Technology Park, a research, design and innovation organization based in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

FRANCE’S HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR

When he was just 9 years old, Ralph Hockley ’49, fled to France after facing Nazi persecution in Germany. As a teenager, he took pride in assisting fellow Jewish refugees as a volunteer interpreter with the American Quakers in Marseille.

The Quakers helped Hockley’s family obtain U.S. immigration visas. Once in the U.S., Hockley was determined to go back to France to fight the Nazis. He reported to the draft board on his 18th birthday and found himself in Paris the day World War II ended.

For his courage and sense of duty, Hockley, 96, was recently honored with the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian accolade. It was presented at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum during a ceremony in November 2021.

Valérie Baraban, consul general of France in Houston, told Hockley he “could have taken advantage of the refuge offered to you by the United States, far from the barbarism which was unleashed in Europe. But your courage and your sense of duty continued to guide you.”

After WWII, Hockley returned to the states and enrolled at Syracuse University on the GI Bill. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies from the Maxwell School.

It was at Maxwell that a military intelligence officer approached him about returning to active duty.

Hockley obliged. His fluent French served him well in Korea, where he was a forward observer in the Army, working with a French battalion involved in the bloody Battle of Heartbreak Ridge and other engagements.

In a North Korean schoolhouse, he discovered Russian books that he sent back to a Syracuse professor, who forwarded some of them to the War Department.

Hockley later worked for 25 years as a military intelligence officer in Germany. Returning to civilian life, he sold real estate in California

and eventually moved to Texas in 1997 after marrying wife Carolyn. His first wife, Eva, died in 1983.

Hockley is the author of Freedom Is Not Free (Brockton Publishing Co., 2001), in which he chronicles his extraordinary life.

Hockley is grateful for the Legion of Honor award. “It is a big deal,” said Hockley by phone from his Dallas home. “I’m obviously honored.”

—Steve Buchiere

Ralph Hockley ’49 B.A. (RusSt) at the Legion of Honor ceremony in Houston

KIM LEESON

NAPA FELLOWS

Four Maxwell School alumni are among 39 public administration leaders who were named 2021 National Academy of Public Administration Fellows.

NAPA is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan organization established in 1967 to assist government leaders in building more effective, efficient, accountable and transparent organizations. Induction into NAPA is considered one of the leading honors for scholars in the discipline. The new fellows join former cabinet officers, members of congress, governors, mayors and state legislators, prominent scholars, business executives, nonprofit leaders and public administrators.

THE

ALUMNI INDUCTEES ARE:

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux ’03 Ph.D. (PA), who took office in January 2021, representing Georgia’s 7th district. Just a few months into her term, legislation she wrote passed both houses and was signed into law by the president. In addition to the successful Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act, she has introduced bills to support supply chain resiliency, infrastructure and state and local COVID-19 funding flexibility. Bourdeaux previously served as an associate professor at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Public Policy.

Nuria Esparch ’00 E.M.P.A., who served as Minister of Defense of Peru. She was the first woman to hold the position. She was charged with oversight of national security and the ministries of War, Navy and Aeronautics. She previously served as vice minister for defense resources in the Ministry of Defense of Peru; chief executive of the National Civil Service Authority; chief of staff for the Office of the Vice Minister at the Ministry of the Interior; and as secretary general at the Ministry of Agriculture, Labor and Employment Promotion as well as at the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations.

Amma Felix ’01 M.P.A., president and chief executive officer of Collegiate Directions Inc., a nonprofit that helps low-income and first-generation students plan for and succeed in college. Felix is also a Maxwell Advisory Board member and a founding member of Chief, a network of professional women. She previously worked for the United Negro College Fund, rising from chief of staff to vice president, strategy and secretary of the corporation. She also served as vice president for strategy management for the Abyssinian Development Corp.

Shiro Gnanaselvam ’93 M.P.A., the chief executive officer of Social Impact, a consulting firm that aids global development organizations in improving health and education, reducing poverty and promoting peace and democratic governance. Among other roles, Gnanaselvam previously served as the chief operating officer of Africare, an organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Africa by addressing food insecurity, HIV and AIDS, empowering women and expanding access to potable water.

Michael Nitzky ’98 B.A. (PSc) was appointed to Mercury as managing director of its New York office. Mercury is a global, bipartisan public strategy firm located in all 50 states.

Peter Simmons ’98 M.P.A. was named chief administrative officer of the town of Amherstburg in Ontario, Canada.

Scott Zuchorski ’98 M.P.A. is Fitch Ratings’ new global group head of infrastructure and project finance. Fitch Ratings is an international company that provides credit ratings and credit-related research.

2000s

Clo Ewing ’00 B.A. (PSc) has written a children’s book, Stella Keeps the Sun Up (Simon & Schuster, 2022). The book follows a young girl named Stella who schemes to keep the sun up all day so that she does not have to go to bed. Ewing has worked as a television producer for The Oprah Winfrey Show and as a journalist for CBS News. She currently works as vice president of strategic communications for The Chicago Community Trust.

Kelly Marie Flannery ’00 B.A. (IR) was appointed finance director for Metro Nashville by Mayor John Cooper in October 2021. In this role Flannery is in charge of financial leadership including disbursements, operations budget, revenue, collections, treasury and purchasing for metro Nashville. Flannery serves on the Maxwell Advisory Board.

Reem Maysoon Ghandour ’01 M.P.A. has won a 2021 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal from the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. The award honors federal workers whose achievements have directly benefited the health, safety and prosperity of the United States.

Kevin Boryczki ’02 B.A. (Hist) was named general manager for Spectra’s new Tahoe South Events Center. Spectra is an international hospitality company that works in live events and entertainment.

Kate Powers ’02 J.D./M.P.A. was appointed assistant deputy superintendent of life insurance at the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Diana Rocco ’02 B.A. (PSc) is co-anchoring News 4 San Antonio Today, a broadcast based in San Antonio, Texas.

Stasha Fyfe Santifort ’02 B.A. (PSt)/’06 M.P.A. was selected as one of City and State New York magazine’s Responsible 100. The award highlights those who are dedicated to helping others and exemplify the optimism and idealism that make New York a national leader, especially as partisan gridlock hinders the nation’s ability to contend with an unending pandemic, heightened racial tensions and a rising climate crisis.

Brian Selmeski ’02 M.A. (Anth)/’07 Ph.D. (Anth) was named associate vice president for learner success for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

Elizabeth Hansen ’03 B.A. (PSc/ PSt) was hired as director of university records management at Syracuse University.

Desiree Coleman-Fry ’04 M.P.A. has joined the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Mo. as the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Brandy Oakley ’05 B.A. (PSt) was elected as state representative for the 12th Suffolk district in Massachusetts and was sworn in on Jan. 6, 2021. Prior to her appointment, Oakley earned an M.A. in education at Johns Hopkins University and attended law school at Emory University. Oakley became a public defender with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in the Boston Municipal and Chelsea District courts.

Evan Theis ’06 B.A. (PSc) and business partner Alexis Grenell have started Pythia Public, an organization that shapes public agendas for public and private sector clients.

Marissa Lorenzetti ’08 B.A. (PSc/ PSt) has been named chief of staff at the Madison, Wisc.-based Madison Group, which provides consulting services, technical expertise and innovative technology to the plastics industry.

MAN OF THE PEOPLE

Amoment during Syracuse University’s 2012 Commencement address had a major impact on Jared Kraham ’13. Speaking to the graduating class, Academy and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin ’83 said: “Baseball players say they don’t have to look to see if they hit a home run, they can feel it. So, I wish for you a moment—a moment soon—when you really put the bat on the ball, when you really get a hold of one and drive it into the upper deck, when you feel it. When you aim high and hit your target, when just for a moment all else disappears, and you soar with wings as eagles.”

The words rang true for the dual political science and broadcast and digital journalism graduate from the Maxwell School and the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications. Kraham aimed high, took a big swing and in January 2022 began his term as the mayor of Binghamton, New York, the city’s youngest ever at just 30 years old. “In some ways being elected was surreal, and it was also very humbling,” Kraham says.

Kraham says age was never an issue during the campaign. That, coupled with his experience working at City Hall as deputy mayor, made him feel at times like both the establishment candidate and the fresh new face in the race. “I was able to appeal to many younger voters who may not typically vote in local elections but believed in my message—if we want to attract and retain young people to live in our community, we should try electing one to lead it,” he says.

Experiences, like an internship with U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, provided a taste for a life in government. Likewise, his classes shaped and expanded his worldview on politics and the importance of civic engagement. He says political science Professor Thomas Keck’s constitutional law class taught him how exploring the merits of opposing viewpoints leads to understanding another’s perspective on policy or law. History and political science Associate Professor Margaret Thompson taught him important lessons on the modern presidency. “Professor Thompson’s lectures on the modern presidency made clear both the effectiveness and shortcomings of executive power in politics,” Kraham says. “It also taught me that personality can matter greatly in leadership, and that even the most influential people in American history could fall victim to everyday insecurities.”

Kraham’s advice for aspiring politicians: Trust your gut. “Every decision in public service comes down to, ‘Is this good for the community and the people I’ve been elected to serve?’ That’s a benefit not every career offers,” he says. “Public service provides the opportunity to come to work every day and make your community better.”

—Lisa Maresca

Jared Kraham ’13, a dual political science and broadcast and digital journalism graduate, started his first term as mayor of Binghamton, New York, in January 2022.

Jared Kraham ’13 spoke recently with fellow Maxwell alumnus John Boccacino ’20 E.M.P.A. for his podcast, ’Cuse Conversations. To listen to the episode, check out ’Cuse Conversations on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and more.

DEPLOYING DATA TO SUPPORT FELLOW VETERANS

Data is everywhere. From how many steps you take in a day to the quality of your sleep, it seems that every aspect of our daily lives can be assessed by crunching the numbers.

In Nick Armstrong’s role as the managing director of research and data at the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), data takes on a more significant role: He directs a multi-disciplinary team of applied social scientists, evaluators and data engineers that analyze the numbers and conduct applied research on the delivery of educational and training programs that advance our nation’s veterans and the military-connected community.

Those issues include addressing how veterans transition from active duty to civilian life, and their pursuit of not just a job that pays the bills, but a satisfying and meaningful career that suits their skills.

This model of translating research and data into practice, programs and policy would be a differentiator for IVMF, and is what drew Armstrong to the role early on in working with J. Michael Haynie, IVMF’s founder and executive director and the Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation.

“It was a great fit for my career and my passions. We combine research with the data to offer programs that help us stay on the

cutting edge,” said Armstrong, who earned M.P.A. and Ph.D. (SSc) degrees with concentrations in public administration and national security policy from the Maxwell School.

For seven years, Armstrong was an active-duty officer in the United States Army. Stationed with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, he was deployed to Bosnia a week prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, then on to Afghanistan and Iraq. Among other leadership roles, Armstrong served as a general’s aide, and later a speechwriter to the commanding general, then Major Gen. Lloyd Austin, who is now serving as the secretary of defense.

When Armstrong first joined IVMF in 2014, veteran unemployment was a persistent concern. But as the economy recovered, less data was being collected on how satisfied veterans were with their jobs or their career paths.

After surveying veterans on their career goals and aspirations, Armstrong and his team realized a shift in philosophy was required. The result: more education, training and credentialing opportunities in long-term growth careers, particularly in fields like STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

“With our military, they are the largest workforce across America, and they consist of a ready-made pool of workers. We needed to design programs where we knew there was a market, a need, and a demand for specific careers and jobs,” said Armstrong. “We focused on the barriers they would face, and how we can influence or design policies to reduce those barriers and create opportunities. We’re focused on helping them gain employment, not just post-military but for life.”

In 2019, in partnership with Maxwell, Syracuse University launched the Veterans Program for Politics and Civic Engagement (VPPCE), with the goal of helping veterans seek elected office, political appointments and related civic engagement roles.

Armstrong said it was only natural for veterans, who volunteer to serve their country, to turn their attentions to a public service career as an elected official.

In just this last election cycle, four alumni from the VPPCE won their local elections.

Armstrong is proud of how Syracuse University and the IVMF provide resources to our country’s service men and women.

“It all starts at the top. Can you think of another University that, in its strategic plan, focuses on helping veterans and their families achieve their goals? I’m proud to be Orange and proud to have the opportunity to further that mission and that commitment we’ve made to serve our veterans and their families,” Armstrong said.

—John Boccacino ’20 E.M.P.A.

Stationed with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, Nick Armstrong ’08 M.P.A./’14 Ph.D. (SSc) was deployed to Bosnia a week prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, then on to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Rob Magliaro ’08 B.A. (Econ/IR/ PSt) is education lead at Grow with Google, a national company working with higher education institutions to co-create programs to support job readiness across disciplines.

Curtis Eatman ’09 B.A. (PSc)/’11 M.P.A. was appointed acting finance director of Hamden, Conn., by Mayor Lauren Garrett.

Pinar Guler ’09 B.A. (Econ/IR) has been promoted to senior program manager for social responsibility at Amazon.

Kevin Sutherland ’09 M.P.A. is the new town manager of Bar Harbor, Maine.

2010s

Julia Kay Dunlea ’10 B.A. (IR) has begun a new position in product marketing for Amazon Web Services.

Alicia Madden ’10 M.P.A. returned to Syracuse University as director of finance and administration for the iSchool after serving 10 years in government.

Nancy Simoe Andrade ’11 M.P.A. is studying for a Ph.D. in public health at Georgia State University while continuing her work as a health scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Joseph Ralbovsky ’11 B.A. (PSt)/’14 M.P.A./M.A. (IR) became an energy technology program specialist for the U.S. Department of Energy in October 2021.

Bree Spencer ’11 M.P.A. was confimed to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. Spencer was previously the policing program manager for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a national coalition of civil rights groups.

Faith Temiloluwa Abiodun ’12 M.P.A. was appointed as executive director of the United World Colleges (UWC) in December 2021. UWC is a global movement that makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.

Kyle Doran ’12 M.P.A. is a director of advisory services at Social Finance, a national impact finance and advisory nonprofit that works with the public, private and social sectors to build innovative partnerships and investments that measurably improve lives.

Alissa Italiano ’12 B.A. (PSt) was appointed to the Manlius Town Board in Manlius, N.Y. She previously worked as a risk manager and management analyst for the Syracuse Housing Authority.

Kathleen Walpole ’12 B.A. (Hist/ PSt/PSc) accepted the position of Central New York Humanities Corridor program manager in the Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University.

Julian Florez Isaza ’13 M.A. (IR) accepted a position as business development manager for the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome, Italy, at the beginning of 2022.

Ryan Suto ’13 J.D./M.A. (IR)/ M.S.P.R. was appointed senior policy advisor for FairVote, a nonpartisan organization that seeks better elections for all. It is based in Takoma Park, Md.

Eric Ennis ’14 M.P.A. was appointed deputy commissioner for business development for the City of Syracuse by fellow alumnus, Mayor Ben Walsh ’05 M.P.A. Ennis also serves as the executive director for the Syracuse Economic Development Corp.

Keely Hanson ’16 M.P.A. is executive specialist in the Office of the Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Prior to that, she worked as a strategy and impact coach for Secoya Strategies, an organization that works to build strong performance through design and practice.

Ellen Johnson ’14 B.A. (IR/PSt) completed her master of science in learning and organizational change at Northwestern University in 2021 and is now a leadership coach for Evergreen Consulting, which is based in Chagrin, Ohio.

Lauren Hill Rose ’14 M.P.A. was promoted to assistant city manager for the city of Sachse, Texas.

Maryangel Rodriguez ’16 B.A. (IR) manages the Washington, D.C., office for the Obama Foundation and is in the liberal studies master’s degree program at Georgetown University.

Jace Beehler ’17 M.P.A. is celebrating the birth of a son, Finn Stephen Beehler, born July 24, 2021. Zachery Le Cuyer ’17 B.A. (IR/ PSc)/’19 M.A. (IR) joined the federal civil service as a NATO program manager for the Department of Defense, supporting the secretary of the Air Force’s Office of Information Dominance at the Pentagon.

Katsistohkwi:Io Louise Jacco ’17 B.A. (PSc) is the new coordinator of student success for the Otsenhákta Student Centre at Concordia University in Montreal. In this position she serves as an advisor to Indigenous students on academic and non-academic programs and services.

Layla Mahdieh Sharaf ’17 B.A. (IR) has begun a new position as director of the Civic Leadership Program at the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, a Washington, D.C., organization which seeks to include Iranian Americans at all levels of the democratic process.

Tobi Dare ’18 B.A. (IR) began working with Chemonics International in September 2021 as a senior associate, project management and is working in the Global Health Division on a project which aims to achieve universal healthcare in Bangladesh by 2032.

Kevin Porter ’18 B.A. (PSc) was promoted to Congressman Kurt Schrader’s communications director in March 2022. Schrader represents Oregon’s 5th congressional district.

Satoshi Sugiyama ’18 B.A. (IR) started a new job as an automobile and mobility technology correspondent for Reuters in Tokyo in January 2022.

Dumisa Adams ’19 E.M.P.A. has joined the Mohawk Valley Health System Medical Group as medical director and OB/GYN.

Blake Neumann ’19 M.P.A. has joined the Adirondack Council’s conservation team in the newly created role of clean water advocate.

2020s

Dennis Vicchiarelli ’20 E.M.P.A. has been appointed managing director of research and strategy at JLL Jones Lang LaSalle in Chicago. In his new position, Vicchiarelli focuses on real estate activity in the Chicago region, serving as a market expert and partnering with the business community and public sector.

Brooke Schneider ’21 M.P.A. was appointed senior public information officer by Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh ’05 M.P.A. in November 2021. In this role she is responsible for planning, preparing and communicating critical information on government activities, services, programs and projects to Syracuse residents.

Susan Gensemer, Longtime Economics Professor

While making small talk with economics students, Prof. Jan Ondrich used to occasionally ask, “Who’s your favorite professor in the department?”

“I hoped at least one of them would say me, but they always said Susan Gensemer,” he laughed, adding that they’d often go on to explain how she provided “crystal clear” explanations in addition to always being supportive and accessible.

Ondrich couldn’t deny their insights; having worked with Gensemer through the years, he’d come to highly respect her academic work and the ease with which she interacted with students and colleagues.

And, he added, “she had a really, really good sense of humor.”

Gensemer died on Nov. 10, 2021. She was 68 and had been retired from the Maxwell School for seven years.

Born in Georgia, Gensemer received a Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1984. She joined the Maxwell faculty in 1983, just before Donald Dutkowsky.

“Susan was a very low-profile type of person, very fundamentally grounded,” said Dutkowsky, professor emeritus of economics. “She was very fair, very straightforward. She pulled her load and she expected you and the students to do the same. She was great to work with.”

Gensemer, who retired as an associate professor, taught undergraduate and graduate students. Dutkowsky said she and Jerry Kelly, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, were “the backbone” of the microeconomics sequence for many years, integral in preparing doctoral students for dissertations.

In the 1990s, Gensemer developed a companion interest—gender in economics. Inspired by early feminist economists such as Virginia Perry, she published works related to women’s rights in the workplace, economics and gender, and she developed courses for the University’s Women and Gender Studies program, said Ondrich. “She was very proud of that work,” he said.

Also Greatly Missed

Since our last edition, the following deaths have been reported:

Frederick Ballen ’39 B.A. (PSc)

Russell Parker ’47 B.A. (PSc)/’57 M.P.A.

Lewis Taylor ’47 M.A. (PSc)

Martha Phillips McKeon ’49 B.A. (SSc)

Elmer Alft ’50 M.A. (Soc Studies Ed)

Richard Gersh ’50 B.A. (SSc)

William McIntyre ’50 B.A. (Geog)

William Partridge ’50 M.P.A.

Frederick Wernstedt ’50 M.A. (Geog)

Stuart Arvedon ’51 B.A. (Hist)

Marjory Hauser Bradwick ’51 B.A. (Soc)

Andre Elkon ’51 B.A. (Econ)

Beverly Cotton Goldberg ’51 B.A. (Soc)

Shirley Hodis Kaitz ’51 B.A. (Soc)

Gerald Hoffman ’51 B.A. (PSc)

Jane Coons ’52 B.A. (LAS)

Jerome Miles ’53 M.P.A.

Roberta Messner Block ’55 M.P.A.

Elbert Hinds ’55 M.P.A.

Elizabeth Goddard Ludewig ’55 B.A. (PSc)

Lucille Levine Stein ’55 B.A. (PSc)

John Beierle ’56 M.A. (Anth)

Peter T. Marsh, ‘Gifted Teacher, Accomplished Scholar’

In his 33 years as a Maxwell faculty member, Peter T. Marsh penned several books that reflected his research interests, including church history and 19th- and 20th-century Great Britain. Among them, a biography of British politician and social reformer Joseph Chamberlain.

Researching Joseph Chamberlain, Entrepreneur in Politics (Yale University Press, 1994) led to a deep friendship with the notable family and added to Marsh’s affinity for England, which became his home shortly after he retired from the Maxwell School in 2000.

Marsh, professor emeritus, died at home in Birmingham, England, on Jan. 4, 2022.

“Peter was a remarkable colleague,” says David Bennett, professor emeritus of history. “He was a gifted teacher and a very accomplished scholar, and he had a distinguished career after he left Syracuse.”

Marsh retired in 2000 and soon after relocated to Birmingham, where his book’s namesake, Chamberlain, founded the University of Birmingham and served as secretary of state for the colonies during the Second Boer War. While in England, Marsh researched and wrote further publications connected to Chamberlain: The Chamberlain Litany: letters within a governing family from Empire to Appeasement (Haus Books, London, 2010) and The

House where the Weather was Made: a biography of Chamberlain’s Highbury (with Justine Pick, West Midlands History, 2019).

In addition to his research and writing, Marsh served as chair of governors of a small secondary school, which is attached to a city church in Birmingham.

The move to England brought Marsh full circle, as he’d earned a Ph.D. from Cambridge University’s Emmanuel College in 1962. He joined the Maxwell School as an associate professor of history five years later and served as department chair from 1968-70. In 1978, Marsh was promoted to professor, and two years later he was named a Guggenheim Fellow—one of the first in Maxwell to earn the distinction.

Marsh’s numerous roles included serving as director of the University Honors Program and resident chair of the University’s program in Florence. He was later appointed professor of international relations. He also served as president of the Middle Atlantic States Conference on British Studies and was a Leverhulme Fellow in association with the University of Birmingham, which granted him an honorary professorship. He was named a professor emeritus of history following his retirement from the Maxwell School.

Harold Rubin ’56 M.P.A./’63 Ph.D. (PA)

Edward Bailey ’57 B.A. (Hist)

Robert Brannigan ’58 B.A. (Soc Studies Ed)

Thomas Schilling ’58 B.A. (Econ)

Robert Long ’59 B.A. (Soc)

Howard Applegate ’60 M.A. (Hist)/’66 Ph.D. (Hist)

Beverly Schanzer ’60 B.A. (Hist)

Lee Cary ’62 Ph.D. (SSc)

Gerard Wertkin ’62 B.A. (PSc)

William Conroy ’63 Ph.D. (SSc)

Saul Kobrick ’63 B.A. (Econ)

Paul Bohr ’65 M.C. (PA)

Alfred Cicci ’65 B.A. (Hist)

William Jordan ’65 M.A. (IR)

Laurent Baptiste ’68 B.A. (PSc)

Keven McKenna ’68 M.P.A.

Paul Norton ’68 M.P.A.

Ellen Whelan ’68 M.A. (Hist)/’72 Ph.D. (Hist)

Michael Antonelli ’69 M.A. (Geog)

Susan Cameron ’69 M.P.A.

John Fennessey ’69 M.R.P.

Stephen Hartman ’69 Ph.D. (PSc)

James Present ’69 B.A. (PSc)

John Rizzo ’69 B.A. (PSc)

Peter Dalleo ’70 M.A. (Hist)/’75 Ph.D. (Hist)

Mark Kassop ’70 M.A. (Soc)

Charles Waldauer ’70 Ph.D. (Econ)

Paul Driscoll ’71 B.A. (AmSt)

Donald Eichenhofer ’71 M.A. (Hist)

Donald Kline ’71 Ph.D. (SSc)

Philip Salisbury ’71 M.P.A.

Robert Tisdell ’71 B.A. (PSc)

Anne Emperor ’72 M.A. (Hist)

Edward Thibault ’72 Ph.D. (SSc)

Masahiro Horie ’73 M.P.A.

Llewellyn Howell ’73 Ph.D. (IR)

Elaine White Laube ’73 M.R.P.

Clifford Preminger ’73 B.A. (PSc)

Michael Starego ’73 B.A. (Anth)

Samuel Tan ’73 Ph.D. (SSc)

Catherine Valentine ’73 M.A. (Soc)/’78 Ph.D. (Soc)

George Anderson ’74 B.A. (Econ)

Richard Blume ’74 B.A. (Hist)

Bennett Glaser ’74 B.A. (PSc)

Timothy Grippen ’75 M.P.A.

Michael Hennessey ’75 B.A. (IR)

Francis Hunt ’76 B.A. (IR)

Karl Reinhardt ’76 M.C. (PA)/’77 M.P.A.

Douglas Holbrook ’77 M.R.P.

Charline Reeves ’77 M.C. (PA)

Alan Zlomek ’77 B.A. (AmSt)

Karl Amylon ’78 M.P.A.

Mark Van Bergh ’78 B.A. (PSc)

Thomas Taylor ’79 M.A. (Hist)/’81 Ph.D. (Hist)

R. J. Melville ’82 M.P.A.

Irene Blanchard ’83 M.S.Sc./’85 Ph.D. (SSc)

Harold Vaughn ’84 Ph.D. (SSc)

Richard Barry ’85 B.A. (PSc/PSt)

James Carroll ’86 B.A. (PSc)

Kristi Zimmerman Craig ’86 B.A. (PSt)

Charles Thomas ’88 B.A. (Geog)

Kotta Madhusudhan ’89 M.P.A.

Tiffany Wentz ’89 B.A. (PSc)

Valerie Burrows ’91 B.A. (Econ)

Richard Russell ’95 Ph.D. (SSc)

Galen Antle ’98 B.A. (Econ)

Martine Pyram ’98 B.A. (IR)

Jeffrey Baer ’06 M.A. (PA)

Emily Erickson ’09 B.A. (IR)

Lindsay Roufa ’19 E.M.I.R./E.M.P.A.

WITH

Maxwell School Advisory Board

B. Ben Baldanza ’84 B.A. Former CEO, Spirit Airlines

Carol Becker ’76 B.A. Owner, William Greenberg Desserts

Stephen Brodsky ’93 B.A. Chief Financial Officer, Encyclopedia Britannica

John H. Chapple* ’75 B.A./’11 Hon. President, Hawkeye Investments LLC

Nicole Collier ’00 M.P.A. Vice President of Federal Government Affairs, Proctor and Gamble

Cathy Daicoff ’79 M.P.A., Vice Chair, Maxwell Advisory Board Managing Director (ret.), S&P Global

Mary Daly ’94 Ph.D./’19 Hon. President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank –San Francisco

Wesley C. Dias ’74 B.A. CEO, Argosy Consulting Group LLC

Felipe Estefan ’10 M.A. (IR)/M.S.P.R. Vice President and Head of Washington, D.C. Office, Luminate

Amma Felix ’95 B.A./’01 M.P.A. President and CEO, Collegiate Directions, Inc.

Kelly Flannery ’00 B.A. Finance Director, Metropolitan Government of NashvilleDavidson County

Javier Font ’92 M.P.A. Founder and Executive Vice President, Intelligence & Public Affairs

Michael G. Fox ’95 B.A. Co-Founder, BSTEVR Inc.

Lisa Y. Gordon ’90 M.P.A. Chief Operating Officer City of Atlanta

Stephen Hagerty ’91 B.S./ ’93

M.P.A.

President, Hagerty Consulting Inc.

Allegra Ivey ’99 M.P.A.

Managing Director, Global Banking & Markets, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Anjali Joseph ’19 M.P.A. Senior Policy Analyst, New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations

David Kelso ’68 B.A.

Vice Chairman of Private Banking (ret.), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Erik Larson ’83 B.A.

Managing Director, Management Committee Member and Global Head (ret.) for Quantitative Methodologies and Analytics, Promontory, an IBM Company

Travis Mason ’06 B.A. Operating Partner, Seven Seven Six

Christopher Meek ’92 B.A./’18

E.M.P.A.

Senior Director of Global Relationship Management, S&P Global; Director/Chair, Soldier Strong, Inc.

Ronald P. O’Hanley III* ’80 B.A. Chair, Maxwell Advisory Board Chairman and CEO, State Street Corporation

John Palmer University Professor and Dean Emeritus, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Kristen Patel ’90 B.A.

Donald P. and Margaret Curry Gregg Professor of Practice in Korean and East Asian Affairs at the Maxwell School

Nancy Jacobson Penn ’84 B.A. Founder and CEO, No Labels

H. Lewis Rapaport ’59 B.A. CEO, Component Assembly Systems, Inc.

Jeffrey Scruggs* Managing Director and Co-Head of Public Sector and Infrastructure Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Aysha Seedat ’16 B.A. Analyst, Fitch Ratings

Donna E. Shalala ’70 M.S.Sc./’70 Ph.D./’87 LLD Trustee Professor of Political Science, University of Miami

Nate Shanok ’98 B.S.

Senior Managing Director, Tishman Speyer

Elizabeth Stearns

Chair, The Judy Fund

David Sulek ’88 B.A. Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

W. Lynn Tanner ’75 Ph.D. Founder and Executive Chairman, TEC Canada

Brian White ’02 M.P.A. Partner, DBO Partners

Debra Whitman ’97 Ph.D. Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, AARP

Susan Willie ’98 M.P.A. Chief, Public and Private Mandates, Congressional Budget Office

Steve Zimba ’86 B.A./’87

M.P.A.

Co-Founder and CEO, Nulia

HONORARY MEMBERS

Alwaleed bin Talal bin

AbdulAziz Alsaud ’85

M.S.Sc./’99 LLD

Founder and President, Kingdom Holding Co.

Molly Corbett Broad ’62

B.A./’09 Hon. President (ret.), American Council on Education

Samuel V. Goekjian ’52 B.A. Chairman & CEO (ret.), Intracon Associates LLC

Susan C.V. Penny* ’70 B.A. Private Investment Consultant

Howard G. Phanstiel* ’70

B.A./’71 M.P.A./’22 Hon. Chairman and CEO, Phanstiel Enterprises LLC

Richard L. Thompson* ’67

M.A./ ’15 Hon.

Senior Counsel, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

*Syracuse University Trustee

RISE

Rise for the next generation.

Being Orange means staying engaged. Beyond classrooms, campus or graduating classes. Thanks to generous donor support, our students and faculty continue to elevate our impact worldwide. Join us.

Brian Bauer ’22 B.A., International Relations

PAYING IT FORWARD

Louise Gartner Birkhead ’52 M.P.A. credits the generosity of a Syracuse University alumnus with helping her focus on her studies while pursuing a graduate degree at the Maxwell School.

Seventy years later, she has made a gift to help ease the financial burden of current and future students. In the spring of 2022, two M.P.A. students became the first recipients of the $2,500 Louise Gartner Birkhead Scholarship. Both are dual majors; while one is also studying for a master of arts in international relations, the other is additionally working toward a juris doctorate at the University’s College of Law.

“I wouldn’t have been able to enroll in the M.P.A. program without the generosity of an alumni scholarship,” says Birkhead. “I wanted to pay it forward. My hope is that young women from diverse backgrounds with fewer resources will be among the beneficiaries of this endowment, allowing them to pursue their love of public service.”

Birkhead’s gift was inspired not only by her desire to help others, but also a deep sense of gratitude for Maxwell. The education and training she received served her well in a career in public administration, working for the City of Syracuse, elected officials and various municipal organizations.

Maxwell is also where she met her late husband of 60 years, Guthrie S. Birkhead Jr., who served as dean of Maxwell from 1977-88 after teaching at the school for nearly three decades. The couple had three sons: Guthrie S. Birkhead III, Richard G. Birkhead and Evan C. Birkhead. Their legacy continues: Granddaughter Hanna received an M.P.A. from Maxwell and a master’s degree from the Newhouse School in 2016. Learn