Alumni News

A key reason why immigrant and refuge communities are able to gain a foothold is Syracuse’s manageable size coupled with the low cost of living. “We’re a small enough city,” says organizational management consultant Judy Mower ’80 M.A. (SPsy)/’84 Ph.D. (SPsy), “where people can build webs of relationships up and down the economic and social strata, and sideways from group to group.”

Both school and community benefit from intentional partnerships like the i-team, according to Jonnell Robinson, assistant professor of geography. The focus on data analysis, for example, also serves the city’s pursuit of government and foundation grants. Students, meanwhile, connect to real-world problems, preparing them for employment in data and innovation offices.

Maxwell School’s X Lab is helping the City of Syracuse collect overdue property taxes by redesigning their letters with a graphic, attention-grabbing message that has resulted in nearly $100,000 of unlikely payments. The X Lab, created a year and a half ago, has the potential for other scholars, offering students real-world sandboxing opportunities and working with public and nonprofit clients at a lower cost than private consultants.

Prior to joining Procyon Partners, which is an an independent, employee-owned financial management firm, Steven J. Mitchell ’90 B.A. (Econ) served as managing director of wealth management, as well as a Pinnacle Council and Pinnacle Circle member at UBS, where he worked for twelve years.

The eight essays include historical background and trends to explain the legacy of voters' choices in November. Also included in this edition are stories on historian David Bennett's 50-year-plus career, a new scholarship fund geared towards retention, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changyong Choi ’11 Ph.D. (SSc) has been appointed to the Korea Development Institute’s School of Public Policy and Management as a faculty in international development and public policy.

Paul Arras ’04 B.A. (Hist)/’11 M.A. (Hist)/’16 Ph.D. (Hist) has written a book titled "Seinfeld: A Cultural History." The book explores the history of the still-popular late-1990s sitcom Seinfeld—how the show’s ideas are woven into popular thought and behavior, and how it challenged previous conventions of television comedy.

Jeremy Ames ’04 M.P.A. is the new director of the Division of Communications in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Regulatory Affairs, which leads FDA field activities, inspecting regulated products and manufacturers, analyzing samples of regulated products, and reviewing products imported into the United States.

Scott Rayder ’92 M.P.A. is the new executive director of the Alabama Water Institute (AWI), based at the University of Alabama. As executive director, Rayder will facilitate collaboration with the National Water Center, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration center located on the University of Alabama campus. 

Melaine Rottkamp ’91 B.A. (PSc) is the new president and CEO of Dutchess Tourism. As president, she will manage Dutchess Tourism’s branding, advertising and marketing efforts, and various business support and education programs.

Alumnus Dominick Cademartori ’52 B.A. (Econ) left a $30,000 gift to Maxwell School for undergraduate students majoring in history or economics in his will, which is intended to extend the legacy of his own studies as a first-generation American and first-generation college student for whom college was nearly discontinued owing to financial hardship.

Dave Levinthal '02 B.A. (PPhil) previously spent seven and a half years at the Center for Public Integrity, as an editor and senior reporter focused largely on federal politics.

Rivian, an American automaker and technology company that produces emissions-free electric adventure vehicles, has named Nancy E. Bell '94 J.D./M.A. (IR)/'96 Ph.D. (PSc) as it's new director of regulatory affairs.

In her new position, Alexandria Valerio ’93 M.P.A. will lead strategic dialogue with the Dominican government, and manage the program and team by which the World Bank supports development priorities in the Dominican Republic.

Mahboob A. Khawaja ’81 M.A. (PSc)/’00 Ph.D. (SSc) offers a 21^st-century vision of global harmony, transcending what he terms “obsolete systems of global governance, peace, security and conflict resolution,” in his new book titled "One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution."