2 The Inaugural Graduating Class of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School May 28, 2022
Dear Brooks School Community,
This has been a year of firsts for the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and this magazine, our first, tells the story of our remarkable inaugural year. We celebrated our first commencement in May 2022, and now we are welcoming our first incoming class of students this Fall who will spend their entire time at Cornell as part of the Brooks School community.
First, though – and there is that word again – a note of appreciation to our wonderful donors and volunteers. Because of your enthusiastic and generous support, we are moving quickly to establish Brooks as a preeminent school of public policy with a global mission and a focus on excellence and impact.
With so much accomplished in our inaugural year and so much exciting work ahead, I hope you consider the Brooks School - your school. We have a unique opportunity to build it on a strong foundation together. Your enthusiasm, your engagement, your work with our students and faculty, and your philanthropic support will help us grow the Brooks School into a powerhouse.
In the following pages, you will read about the many ways our faculty, staff, students, donors and volunteers are making our world a better place through teaching, research, learning, serving, giving, and leading.
We will continue to enhance the exceptional policy education our students receive in the classroom and enrich their learning with internships and other hands-on experiences that position them to improve policy in real world settings.
I am grateful for your support and wish you a wonderful year ahead.
In the year ahead, we will complete our Brooks strategic plan to chart the course for our School over the next five years. We are already working to recruit new faculty to add breadth to our public policy expertise and extend the impact of our work. As we grow, we will position ourselves to identify policy solutions to the most pressing issues of our time including the impact of technology on society, quality education from pre-K through higher education, making health care more equitable for all and ensuring we leave a healthy Earth for the next generation. Importantly, our faculty and students will build partnerships with policymakers, community organizations and the private sector to develop practical solutions and inform evidence-based policy.
Best Colleenwishes,L.Barry PhD, MPP Dean | Our First Commencement 2 | Making an Impact 8 | Advancing Knowledge 13 | Students Making a Difference 19 | Celebrating Our Supporters 20 3 Brooks School Magazine Published by the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy Publication date: Sept. 15, 2022 (inaugural issue) Editor: Jim Hanchett (jim.hanchett@cornell.edu)Designer:RachelPhilipson Design and Photography: Natalie Kimbrough Contributing writers: James Dean, Laura Gallup, Caitlin Hayes Illustration: Daria Kirpach Photos by Genesee Photo Systems and Cornell Photography
First Brooks graduates honored
Then, after a catered lunch on the Bailey Hall Plaza, it was time for the Brooks School ceremony. Faculty created a joyful gauntlet on the Bailey steps and the graduates processed into the historic hall.
The class then went back to the Bailey Hall Plaza for a champagne toast and a class photo, punctuated by an exuberant toss of caps into the air, peacock blue tassels flying.
welcomed the graduates and nearly 1,000 of their friends and family members: “We are gathered to celebrate the achievements, success, and bright futures of our Brooks School graduates from the Class of 2022.”
Fitzpatrick introduced the inaugural recipients of the school’s highest academic achievement and leadership honor, the John Siliciano Award (full story on facing page). In her remarks, Barry thanked Jeb Brooks and Cherie Wendelken for “their incredible philanthropic support” to name the school. She also thanked Pollack, Provost Michael Kotlikoff and other university leaders who contributed to the launch of a school “more than 40 years in the making.”
Each graduate was then called by name and walked across the Bailey stage to be congratulated by Barry and to pause for a photo. Director of Undergraduate Studies Sharon Sassler read the names of the undergraduates earning health care policy and policy analysis and management degrees. Director of the Sloan Program in Health Administration Sean Nicholson, CIPA Director Matthew Hall and Fitzpatrick (on behalf of Director of Graduate Studies Laura Tach) announced the MHA, MPA and PhD recipients, respectively.
“Cornell and the Brooks School will always be your home… come back to Bailey Hall at some point and stand alone in the empty building and remember your graduation day – what it took to get here, what you accomplished while you were here. And how you have used your Cornell degree to make the world a better place. Feel proud of yourself. And know that we are all very proud of you – the first Brooks School Class, the Class of 2022.” (See transcript of speech on p. 4 for full remarks)
4 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
| Our First Commencement |
Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Maria Fitzpatrick
Chelsea Chen ’22 carried the symbol banner. Matthew Sheen ’22 and Krishna Kandala MPH ’22 carried the school’s name banner and Jillion Pion ’22 and Andrew Wen MPA ’22 served as degree marshals.
he events began with a morning procession from the Arts Quad to Schoellkopf Field behind the newly created Brooks symbol banner (a representation of the Earth held aloft by human hands).
On the Schoellkopf Field stage, Inaugural Dean Colleen L. Barry joined Cornell President Martha Pollack in saluting the Brooks graduates. They were all sporting the traditional peacock blue tassel favored by public affairs graduates at universities nationwide.
The Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy celebrated its inaugural graduating class on May 28. The 214-member Class of 2022 was urged by Dean Colleen L. Barry to “make the world a better place” as they share a unique distinction: “As our first graduating class of the Brooks School, you will always hold a special place in the history of our School and the University.”
T
After urging the graduates to “loudly” applaud for their proud parents, families and friends, Barry noted the many people who help students succeed at Cornell: “Let me thank your faculty, your program directors, your advisors and our incredibly talented staff who have dedicated themselves to supporting you, to thrive in your studies and to position you to make a difference in the world through your careers.
In 2007, Siliciano oversaw a review of the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs and its potential to grow into a cornerstone of a public policy school. In 2020, he was a member of the School of Public Policy Committee, charged by Kotlikoff to develop a blueprint and timeline for the creation of the Cornell School of Public Policy, later to be named the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Siliciano co-chaired the 13-member search team that selected Barry to serve as the founding dean.
In addition to his leadership service at Cornell, Siliciano is a member of the faculty of the Cornell Law School and is a national authority on torts and products liability. After joining the faculty in 1984, he served as Associate Dean of the Law School from 1997-2000, Vice Dean from 2000-2003 and Interim Dean in 2004, before becoming the Vice Provost.
New FBrooksoutstandingandhonorsendowmentJohnSilicianorecognizesSchoolstudentsournewgraduatesarethefirstrecipientsoftheCornellJebE.BrooksSchoolofPublicPolicy’sendowedJohnSilicianoStudentLeadershipAward,whichwillannuallyrecognizeexceptionalacademicexcellenceandleadership.DeputyProvostJohnSiliciano’75issteppingasidefromhiscurrentledershipafterover18yearsofservicetotheuniversity.Heplayedacriticalroleinfoundingthepolicyschoolincludingshepherdingamulti-yearplanningprocessandleadingtherecruitmentoftheSchool’sfoundingdean.“WewillforeverbegratefultoDeputyProvostSilicianoforhistremendousbehind-the-scenesworktoestablishtheSchoolonastrongfoundation,”saidBrooksSchoolDeanColleenL.Barry.Theawardswereannounced,andtherecipientshonoredatthefirstcommencementfortheschool,heldMay28inBaileyHall.“Startingthisyear,theSilicianoAwardwillrecognizegraduatingundergraduateandgraduateBrooksSchoolstudentswhodisplayleadershipthroughstellaracademicachievement,publicengagementanddistinguishedservicetotheuniversity,”saidSeniorAssociateDeanofAcademicAffairsMariaFitzpatrick.TherecipientsoftheSilicianoAwardinclude:•OmotoyosiIbukunoluwaAyanwola’22,ahealthcarepolicymajor.•CraigSpencerSchulman’22,apolicyanalysisandmanagementmajor.•JeffersonAkers,MHA’22,agraduateoftheSloanPrograminHealthAdministration.•AndrewSiyanWenMPA’22,agraduateoftheCornellInstituteforPublicAffairs(CIPA).
Siliciano greeted each of the recipients at a postcommencement reception on a historic graduation day for the Brooks School. The inaugural commencement marked the culmination of efforts of university leaders including President Martha Pollack, Provost Michael Kotlikoff, Siliciano and others to launch the school, more than 40 years in the making.
“Deputy Provost Siliciano’s vision and determination have helped set the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy on a course for long term success and impact,” Kotlikoff said. “It is fitting that this award to outstanding students will serve as a lasting tribute to all that he has given and achieved.”
Siliciano graduated summa cum laude in history in 1975 and earned an MPA at Princeton and a JD at Columbia University in 1979. He was editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review. He went on to clerk for Chief Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court.
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I am truly inspired by this class of inaugural Brooks School graduates. Your accomplishments, your persistence, your hard work, your determination. You studied here
Dean Barry’s address to the graduates:
As we congratulate you, our graduates, I want to take a moment to also thank those who have contributed to making this day possible.
Wendelken for their incredible philanthropic support to name our School.
It is never easy to earn a Cornell degree. In these pandemic years, it has been even more challenging.
o the Class of 2022, our inaugural graduating class of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy –
within the walls of this great University during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.
You have displayed fortitude in the face of virtual classrooms, social isolation, illness and – for some of us – in the face of painful loss.
And thanks to our wonderful volunteers and to the Brooks School commencement committee who have made this day possible. Thank you all.
Graduates, join me in thanking your loved ones for everything they’ve done to support you by applauding them loudly now.
And I know there are many not with us in Ithaca today who have also supported you in achieving your goals. They are here with us in spirit.
We have all been changed by this experience. And it has made the task that you originally set for yourselves in coming here harder… in both large and small ways.
T
As we continue to struggle as a global society to turn the corner on the pandemic, we find that our society is a bit more frayed.
ThisCongratulations!isourmoment to celebrate each of you and everything you have achieved here at Cornell and up to this point in your lives.
First, congratulations parents, family members and friends – all of you who are here have played an indispensable role in supporting our graduates to reach this day.
Since this is our first Brooks School commencement, I want to also take a moment to express how grateful I am for the visionary leadership of the Cornell Board of Trustees, President Pollack, Provost Kotlikoff and all our university leaders who were involved in the work and planning that led to the establishment of the Brooks School this academic year… more than 40 years in the And,making.ofcourse, we thank Jeb Brooks and Cherie
It is wonderful to behold such a marvelous group of proud parents, family and friends.
In addition to thanking your loved ones, let me thank your faculty, your program directors, your advisors and our incredibly talented staff who have dedicated themselves to supporting you to thrive in your studies and to position you to make a difference in the world through your careers.
are tethered to because we believe that we are following the same road of who have come before us and will come after us.
As Dean, this experience of starting a new school at Cornell, a school that will be around in 100 years, has reminded me of the creative power of living in start-up mode and my own power to start something new.
And, in doing so, you will be living up to the investment made in you by your teachers and professors and coaches, and faith leaders and family.
It is often the case that people who succeed at places like Cornell do so with a singular focus on linear progress.
Through so much of our lives, we follow well-worn paths. We don’t question the structures that our lives
The visual image is an unrelenting push along a straight line. This linear push, done with sufficient force, explains much of the success of those in this room I would guess.
By any measure, polarization has increased. We are more challenged than in the past to find pathways to civil discourse.
As our first graduating class of the Brooks School, you will always hold a special place in the history of our School and the University.
Even if the very next step in your career will be following a well-worn path of those who have come before you and will come after you.
Approaching your life with a start-up mentality means leaning into your own creativity.
The world around you may well feel more foreboding now than it ever has. I hope that your years at Cornell have brought you knowledge, skills, determination, and a good measure of courage to meet the complex challenges of the world that you are graduating into.
Your power to make it up as you go. But, with an eye to building something that will be truly extraordinary and enduring.
Your commencement is our first. We have literally been building the foundations of the school around you over the course of this year.
But, in a manner that is wholly your own. Living life with a start-up mentality means acknowledging that your career will probably not follow a linear path.
If I work very hard and am successful in step 1, I can move on to step 2. If I apply myself unwaveringly in step 2, I can move on to step 3, and so on. Through our younger years, through high school, through college, through grad school...
We are not often forced, so explicitly, to make it up as we go along. This regularity of the structures of our lives obscures the fact that, in truth, we are all just making it up as we go along. We think we know what is around the corner but of course, we don’t.
Do more to reduce suffering in the world. Do more to make our world a more equitable, more prosperous, and healthier place
It is not often that we as humans get to start something wholly new, and it has reminded me of the creative force that comes out with this kind of start-up work.
You’re graduating, in a very real sense, from a start up venture, albeit a start up at a world-renowned Ivy League university. I just arrived in Ithaca and at Cornell this past September, and for me, being on the ground floor of this new enterprise of a School, this act of creation, has been exhilarating every single day.
With a people’smoreYougreatercareers,doplannedwhattheofbelievementality,startupIthateachyouwillhavepowertodoyoualwaystowithyourbutwithimpact.candotoimprovelives.
And it motivates me to encourage all of you to approach this next critical phase of your life with a start-up mentality.
You, our graduates but also your parents, our faculty and staff. Certainly, it tells much of the story of my own life.
Come back to Bailey Hall at some point and stand alone in the empty building and remember your graduation day. What it took to get here. What you accomplished while you were here. And how you have used your Cornell degree to make the world a better place.
I want to close with this invitation. Come around again. Cornell and the Brooks School will always be your home.
Let’s take a moment to look around us; here in Bailey Hall. This building is so beautiful. The first time I came here was for a Wynton Marsalis concert a few weeks after I arrived in Ithaca and Cornell.
The metaphor of the circle offers ample opportunity to more regularly take stock. To make sure we still remember what motivated us to do this work to begin with.
staff, to experience how proud they are of what you are doing in your Therelives.isno greater pleasure for us as faculty than to watch you thrive.
Feel proud of yourself. And know that we are very proud of you.
It is fitting that we are holding this first Brooks commencement celebration here in a building that has hosted so many important events in the life of Cornell.
But, at some point the linear path forward breaks down. For all of us, it does. We stumble, we take a hard hit, we lose a portion of our confidence, we find ourselves wandering in the desert and we need to start again.
And these friendships can be enduring in ways that help you through your harder moments.
Circle back around and be mentors to future classes of Brooks students to support them to excel. Retrace your steps to campus and revisit what you’ve learned.
Circling back allows us to reflect on how much we stay the same over the course of our lives and careers, that we are not such different people from our 16-year-old selves.
Circling back offers the opportunity to start up again in a new direction.
And now its rich history includes this historic day, in your lives and in the early life of our School.
Bailey Hall is unique on our campus of beautiful buildings, because it is a circle. There is such unexpected beauty in it for this reason.
Take advantage of the opportunity to circle back around to visit your professors and our
The architect of Bailey Hall knew the power and the beauty of circular design. How we are able to see each other and hear each other better when we angle in.
Find ways to stay connected with your classmates. They offer a powerful network that can serve you well in your careers.
Take a moment to admire it and to appreciate the moment. If we think about our lives creatively, with a startup mentality, perhaps a circle is a better metaphor than a straight line.
To make sure that we are still happy and finding joy in our work. To circle back regularly to recall the values that sparked our interests and passions.
Congratulations to each of you –the first Brooks School class –the class of 2022.
Brooks by the publicpolicy.cornell.edunumbers
To learn more about how you can help build a new school at Cornell, please contact Haley Weiss, assistant dean, alumni affairs development,andat hweiss@cornell.edu
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As Cornell alumni, parents and friends, we invite you to consider the Brooks Schoolyour school.
Michener spoke at the “Examining Pathways to Universal Health Coverage” hearings, held by the committee chair Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY). The purpose of the hearing was to evaluate the need for reforms that would expand access to affordable health care and move the nation toward universal coverage, including the Medicare for All Act.
Michener’s research focuses on poverty, racial inequality, public policy and health policy. Her recent book, “Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism and Unequal Politics,” examines how Medicaid affects democratic citizenship.
Michener testifies to Congress on role of universal health insurance
JAMILA MICHENER
“These racial disparities are just the tip of a much larger iceberg,” Michener said. “Crucially, such inequitable health outcomes are a product of systemic forces, not individual Accordingchoices.”toMichener’s testimony, uninsured rates are generally higher for Black, Latino and Indigenous adults compared with white adults. This means people of color are more likely to delay care or forgo treatment, struggle to afford prescribed medication and adhere to treatment regimens. Black people are also at higher risk for chronic health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
School Senior Associate Dean of Public Engagement Jamila Michener testified before a congressional committee that universal health insurance coverage would not only address health inequities among people of color, but strengthen U.S. democracy.
Michener said health coverage for all would make democracy stronger, citing Medicaid expansion’s association with shortterm boosts in voter turnout, while Medicaid disenrollment is associated with significant declines in voting rates.
“Over and above the material and health benefits that such coverage would provide, it would also position people of color as full and equal members of the polity, reinforcing their civic status and strengthening our democracy,” Michener said. “Though this connection is too often overlooked, health and health policy have crucial consequences for democratic participation.”
10 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY | Making an Impact |
Michener told the Committee on Oversight and Reforms that health care for marginalized communities would allow them to participate more in politics.
Brooks
She also recently contributed to a report by the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls, “An Economy for All: Building a Black Women Best Legislative Agenda.” The 133-page report details the potential benefits of potential government policies to pull Black women out of economic precarity and into economic prosperity. The report includes several specific policy solutions that could ease the challenges facing Black women, including instituting a guaranteed income, closing the Medicaid gap and funding community-based organizations to combat the maternal mortality crisis.
Michener said that due to long-standing patterns of racial residential segregation, the disadvantages generated from being uninsured or underinsured are concentrated in the places where people of color live.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) introduced a House Resolution encouraging the use of this framework as a guideline to implement better public policies to benefit all people, specifically Black women.
“Access to high quality, affordable health care offered to all, in ways that convey dignity and respect, has great potential to amplify the voices of those who are most economically and racially marginalized in American society,” said Michener, also a faculty member in the Department of Government in the College of Arts and Sciences and the co-director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity in the Brooks School, in partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine.
The course – delivered in partnership with eCornell, the School of Continuing Education (SCE) and the nonprofit National Education Equity Lab (NEEL) – was devised by Maria Fitzpatrick and Matthew Hall. Both are professors in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy.
Over the last two years, more than 110 high school seniors in New York and several other states participated in an online data policy and analysis course – Big Data for Big Policy Problems. The students explored pressing policy issues such as income inequality, racial justice, and climate change through economic and sociological lenses.
"I saw what I am capable of when I am challenged and give it my all, what I can achieve,” Blount said. “That's the power of the Ed Equity Lab courses. For students in schools where opportunities like this are rare, such opportunities are paramount to understanding our potential.”
Fitzpatrick is also the Brooks School Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Vice Provost for Social Sciences. Hall directs the Cornell Brooks MPA Program and the Cornell Population Center.
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CLOCKWISEsaid.FROM
“Cornell University is a national leader in advancing equity and opportunity - pioneering new models to help students advance and demonstrate college readiness, to admissions offices - and themselves,” Cornfeld said.
One
The “game changing power” of big data
Data for Big Policy problems to the NEEL students was the most rewarding teaching experience of my career,” Fitzpatrick said. “Seeing students like Donovan thrive as they enter college knowing how successful they can be is even more rewarding.”
“I want to thank Cornell, and professors Hall and Fitzpatrick, for stepping up and offering this course through the Equity Lab,” Blount said. Blount is beginning his sophomore year at the University of Buffalo and said the Cornell course was transformative: “I am now in college with a strong, meritbased scholarship, intending to be the first in my family to graduate. That's how change happens. Opportunities like this are “Teachingcrucial."Big
year after underserved high schoolers took a Cornell-developed course to get ready for college, the students appear to be thriving, and the leader of a national education initiative says two Cornell faculty members should be considered “academic heroes.”
Blount and the other students earned college credit as they learned how big data is used to address policy problems such as education equity and COVID-19. They also learned the mechanics of attending college – time management and how to interact with faculty through office hours and lab sessions.
Donovan Blount was one of the seniors in the 16 high schools that participated in the program.
“The power of the Big Data for Big Policy Problems course has been game changing,” said Leslie Cornfeld, CEO and founder of NEEL. “Maria Fitzpatrick and Matthew Hall have become nationally recognized academic heroes, leveraging their talents for social impact on behalf of Cornell, and our nation.”
“We designed this class for Cornell students, and to see high schoolers like Donovan thrive is a testament to Cornell’s commitment to ‘any person…any study,’” Hall
Cornell is one of 11 leading universities that partner with NEEL, a nonprofit that seeks to level the playing field for high achieving high school students in historically marginalized communities. The organization’s goal is to reach 10,000 students across the U.S. by the end of this year.
THE TOP: MARIA FITZPATRICK, MATT HALL, DONOVAN BLOUNT
“This is such a great example of connecting policy to the front lines of climate change,” Brenner said. “We are so proud of Cornell’s partnership with New Lebanon and look forward to continuing this project in the future.”
The students presented their findings and outlined the steps they recommend for the Columbia County Climate Carnival.
The job types include solar panel and heat pump installation, electric vehicle repair, hydrogen cell engineer and wind turbine service technician. The student team, Kaitlynn Boardman, Guanqi Su, Hubo Wang and James Bond, has created a training strategy to share with local high schools, community colleges and vocational institutions.
The Cornell-New Lebanon connection began two years ago when the town joined New York State’s Climate Smart Communities program. Marc Anthonisen, MPA ’21, began an
internship in New Lebanon, and Brenner helped build out a full-fledged connection to Cornell. This involved creating a climate road map for the town and then bringing in additional student projects.
“This experience has shown me that it is possible to connect policy to local communities if you get creative about helping people see the benefits of sustainability,” Anthonisen said.
The first team of two students, Jessie Hughes, MPA ’22, and Waqar Akhtar, MPA ’22, helped assess how climate change will impact the town. One of the key risks that emerged was seasonal drought, which impacts the fire department’s water supply in late summer. Another intern, Nadia Zaidi, MPA ’22, helped research water storage options and grant funding for the fire department.
Under the direction of Rebecca M. Brenner, senior lecturer in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, master of public administration students scanned the regional economy and pinpointed 11 job classifications that would be a good fit with the workforce in the town of 2,300 residents, located about 30 miles from Albany.
“WhatCertification.started with one internship has now produced multiple projects, numerous events, many opportunities for students, significant energy savings and – when the green jobs come to fruition – long-term economic benefit,” Brenner said.
“Cornell has helped New Lebanon become a regional leader in mitigating and adapting to climate change,” said Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling. “Our projects with Cornell have even helped create a road map for other towns and counties.”
“Going back to our Shaker heritage, New Lebanon has a reputation for innovation,” Houghtling said. “Our people can fix anything. The green economy jobs are the next step in our journey and will help New Lebanon thrive.”
To accommodate a wide range of views about climate change, Brenner provided guidance on environmental sustainability initiatives that would help residents see the benefit of the program. One example involved working with town leaders to set up a bicycle recycling program, which has repaired more than 100 bikes for residents. This was followed by a Repair Cafe, a workshop staffed by volunteers who fixed small appliances and toys so they could be reused.
Those new jobs would replace jobs at auto repair shops, gas stations and heating oil distributors that will likely be lost over time due to climate change.
Anthonisen’s internship helped build a template to help other politically divided towns begin implementing a climate change program, Brenner said. Alejandra Plaza Limon, MPA ’22, is working with Columbia County to build out its own climate road map. Based in part on her work, the county is applying for New York State’s Climate Smart Communities Bronze
The relationship has flourished, but not without challenges.
Students help New York town grow green economy
The project is part of a long-running connection between New Lebanon and the graduate students working with Brenner through the Cornell Brooks School. Student teams previously helped estimate the town’s energy usage as well as assess its vulnerability to climate change.
Cornell
12 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
master’s students are assisting New Lebanon, New York, as it seeks to expand its economy with green technology jobs, and they are drafting a blueprint for similar communities statewide.
With her grant, Jordan researched sustainable aviation fuels made from municipal solid waste – such as clothing, paper products, packaging, and plant material – with Erik Balcome, fixed base operations manager at Taughannock Aviation in Ithaca.
She accepted a position as a policy and government affairs officer for Percepto-Autonomous Drones in Texas – a dream job she credits in part to her grant-related work.
These sustainable fuels could reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%. But the infrastructure is in its infancy; supply is low and costs are prohibitive.
Jordan was one of 23 Cornell students who won Serve in Place awards for the winter 2022 cycle. The awards support students participating in community-based research or community-engaged learning projects that address a specific interest, problem or public concern and include working with and learning from a community partner.
“The Brooks School and the Serve in Place award encourage you to be brave and break barriers,” Jordan says. “I can go out into the community and have my focus in a STEM environment like aviation management, but I’m a public administration student at Cornell, too. It’s fantastic.”
A passion project for them both, Balcome and Jordan are focused on making sustainable aviation fuels available to Northeast markets, specifically New York state. “We want to home in on the composition and availability of raw product as well as whether the placement of refineries for production, alongside jet fuel, is feasible,” Balcome says. “The next big step for the project is to bring the findings to existing producers and lean on their expertise to get to the next phase.”
“Wide use of sustainable aviation fuels is on the horizon, and it truly comes down to policy creation and incentives and material collection in order to help lower costs,” Jordan says.
Jordan also formulated a convincing case to lawmakers about the need to incentivize development of the infrastructure.
“I told Mr. Moylan that I had the skills, and all he had to do was teach me the terminology,” Jordan says. “He gave me a Shechance.”gotthe job, as a safety analyst, rekindling a childhood fascination with aviation.
She followed that up by working with a community partner to take on one of aviation’s biggest challenges – high carbon emissions – thanks to a Serve in Place grant from Cornell’s David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement.
Juliet Jordan MPA ’22 applied for a part-time job at Moylan Safety Services LLC, an Ithaca aviation service company, there was only one problem with her application: She had never been on a plane.
“The very idea of a giant metal tube flying through the sky at hundreds of miles an hour, carrying people where they need to go, makes me smile every time,” Jordan says. “But the aviation industry is a huge global contributor to carbon emissions. It doesn’t have to be, at least not in the next few decades.”
“Juliet is driven,” Balcome says. “She’s engaged and excited by anything you put in front of her, and I’m lucky to get to work with her and be around her energy.”
Juliet careerJordan’sistaking off
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As a woman making inroads in a male-dominated field, Jordan has proven that she does not shy away from a challenge.
When
Daria Kirpach
14 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
“On the one end are proactive strategists like Jeff who fully disclose their criminal records and the affiliation of their credentials to others, directly confronting and challenging criminal stigma,” Lindsay said.
Jobseekers face prison credential dilemma
“Employerscredentials.mayuse, or misuse, the credentials in varying ways,” Lindsay said. “Some may even use the credentials to efficiently screen out formerly incarcerated applicants, thwarting their efforts to secure good jobs.”
That’s what Sadé Lindsay calls the prison credential dilemma, and it is a quandary that confronts thousands of formerly incarcerated jobseekers who know little about how companies that are seeking help evaluate these
Lindsay attributes these inconsistencies to the prison credential dilemma and found usage of these credentials vary dramatically among formerly incarcerated men as a result. In her study, participants often considered whether they should even use their prison credentials, and if so, how to ensure that they did not merely signal negative qualities that they desired to counteract by obtaining them.
“On the other end of this continuum, researchers have identified reactive strategists like Larry who may conceal and selectively disclose their criminal records, including the institutional affiliation of their prison credentials,” she said. “They attempt to ‘pass’ as ordinary job applicants to avoid rejection, the devaluation of their expertise from prison, and obtain quality employment.”
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Larry took the opposite path, describing his skills in job applications but not how he obtained them: “That’s where it gets bad because they ask what school, [and I say] ‘Newfield Correctional.’ I didn’t want a certificate that said, ‘Newfield Correctional.’ You put Newfield Correctional [and] the first thing is like, ‘What? You was in prison?’” At last word, he was still looking for a job that matched his skills.
The experiences of Jeff and Larry illustrate the dilemma.
Prison credentials – program certificates and work experiences obtained in prison – were seen as a solution to counter the negative mark of a criminal record by signaling to employers that a formerly incarcerated person was not a lawbreaker and was ready for a job. Yet, Lindsay says the efficacy of these credentials in the labor market has been highly variable across studies dating back to the 1960s.
Both had credentials from prison education and training programs saying they were good workers with marketable skills. Jeff used his credential and landed a good job. Larry feared how potential employers would react and decided to never share his credentials with them.
Race plays a role in the dilemma. Black men are reluctant to present prison credentials because they fear being stereotyped and relegated to low-wage work due to racial discrimination and structural racism, Lindsay found. Yet, Black men are especially reliant on prison credentials to tangibly demonstrate redeemable qualities that combat these dominant stereotypes.
LINDSAY
Jeff was 60, fresh out of prison and looking for a job as an asbestos remover. Larry, 56, was in the same situation.
| Advancing Knowledge |
Lindsay, a sociologist and a member of the faculty of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, conducted personal interviews with 50 formerly incarcerated men in Franklin County, Ohio, to understand how they deal with the uncertainty this dilemma brings when searching for work. An article about her findings, “Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t: How Formerly Incarcerated Men Navigate the Labor Market With Prison Credentials,” published in the journal Criminology.
One practical, short-term solution comes from something as simple as changing the name of the institution on the credential. All prison credentials could come from educational and vocational organizations outside of prison to ensure it is formally tied to these organizations rather than to the prison itself, Lindsay said.SADÉ
Jeff contacted companies to inquire about job openings and attributed his success to his prison credentials: “I never did a lot of work outside the institution besides asbestos. ... Once you have asbestos training ... they [employers] know that you know the job ... you show them your credentials and they know you know what you’re doing, you got a job.”
“This is really flipping the standard approach to surveys on its head,” Schuldt said. “We’re soliciting proposals that encourage methodological diversity and innovation.”
The total sample size of roughly 20,000 voters will be nearly 20 times larger than a typical nationally representative survey. The Cornell team said that would enable more effective analysis of specific segments of the electorate, such as Latinos or different age
CLOCKWISEgroups.FROM
16 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
This year, the Brooks School in partnership with Cornell Center for Social Sciences (CCSS) and the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, will introduce the 2022 Collaborative Midterm Survey, implementing an innovative proposal awarded $2 million by the National Science Foundation. Engaging multiple partners using a combination of new and longstanding methodologies, the proposal seeks to generate election insights while also advancing the science of survey research, potentially establishing a model for future surveys.
Co-principal investigators are Colleen L. Barry, inaugural dean of the Cornell Brooks School and Jonathon P. Schuldt, associate professor in the Department of Communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and executive director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at ElectionCornell.polling
With so much variation and often limited transparency about methods, researchers struggle to determine which strategy is most accurate and cost-effective, Enns said.
critical midterm elections approaching, do voters approve of the job Congress and the president are doing? Feel better or worse about the economy? Rate the pandemic, race relations or climate change as key to their vote?
Enns, Barry and Schuldt lead innovative midterm election survey
With
Enns is principal investigator of the Collaborative Midterm Survey, which will study U.S. House, U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races, with a special focus on voters nationwide as well as three politically important and demographically diverse states: California, Florida and Wisconsin.
“This is going to be one of the go-to sources for understanding the midterm elections,” said Peter K. Enns, professor of government and public policy in the Brooks School and the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Robert S. Harrison Director of CCSS. “The data and findings will be broadly available and accessible to the public. The unique study design will inform the future of survey research for election studies and beyond.”
that have made obtaining nationally representative samples more challenging. Asking questions face-to-face at randomly selected addresses has been long considered the “gold standard” but is the costliest method – a reason for the pause in ANES midterm surveys. Other strategies include group panels, landline and mobile phone calls, text messages and online surveys. Some are probability-based, others not, with widely ranging sample sizes.
and other surveys have been hampered by declining participation rates and rapid changes in technology
Are differences in results attributable to the questions, how or when they were asked, or to a slew of other potential factors?
To establish such a framework, the Cornell investigators plan to select up to three organizations, teams or researchers to collaborate on the midterm election survey. Each will use two sampling methodologies, transparently disclosed, to ask a core set of identical questions during the same time period.
“Our method is trying to solve that question,” Enns said. “Without a systematic, unified framework, we can’t reach strong conclusions about what approaches work best.”
THE TOP: PETER ENNS, COLLEEN BARRY, JONATHAN SCHULDT
It’s been two decades since the federally funded American National Election Studies (ANES) – the preeminent national election survey since 1948 – posed such questions before and after a midterm to assess voter preferences and policy priorities.
The research indicates the relative drop in the earnings of mothers cuts across all education levels. The COVID-19 pandemic may lock the income imbalance in place as mothers who pulled back to care for children face worse hiring prospects and wage penalties as they seek to restart their work lives.
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the incomes of couples over a full 10 years. The researchers used detailed survey data and administrative tax records that together provide long-run data on earnings, birth and marriage dates and key characteristics such as education.
When U.S. couples have their first child, mothers’ earnings drop substantially relative to fathers’, and new Cornell research demonstrates the stubborn, decades-old pattern has changed little despite broad increases in other aspects of gender equality.
Data collection is expected to begin about two weeks before the Nov. 8 election and continue for a month. As quickly as possible, the Roper Center will archive and make publicly available topline and individual-level data, making it easily accessible through visualizations and search functions. In January, the research team plans to host a data launch and hackathon event at Cornell Tech in New York City to share key findings and conduct additional analysis.
The proposal also anticipates partnering with other prominent election polls to ask some common questions across surveys, creating the opportunity for an even larger “super-poll,” Enns said.
The researchers analyzed a period of about 30 years, from the 1980s through the 2000s. They found some change relative to the earliest period when wives became less financially dependent on their husbands after parenthood. Wives’ earnings share dropped 13 percentage points following the first birth in the 1980s, relative to 10 percentage points in the 2000s. That modest change held largely true no matter the education or income level of the husband and wife.
Stubborn earnings losses for mothers as gender revolution stalls
The revived midterm survey is not a horse-race poll, Enns said, but seeks to give researchers and the public insights into voter preferences and behavior, the effects of campaigns and media coverage, and democratic accountability. More broadly, the Cornell team said its approach could inform the design of government surveys across a range of topics, from economic and business conditions to health outcomes to crime.
Musick said the similarities by education were something of a surprise because disparities – especially among those with and without a college degree – have grown in other aspects of family life over this time period. “Across the groups we studied, wives become more financially dependent on their husbands after parenthood,” the researchers concluded, a worrying sign particularly in the U.S., where divorce remains common and policy support for families is weak.
“The pandemic puts into sharp relief the pitfalls of our fendfor-yourself approach to managing work and family,” Musick said. The pandemic also creates an opening for policymakers to build a stronger “infrastructure of care” and the success of that effort will shape gender inequalities in work and family in the decades to come, she said.
An article on the research, “Change and Variation in U.S. Couples’ Earnings Equality Following Parenthood,” was published in Population and Development Review. The research was conducted by sociologists Kelly Musick of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, Pilar GonalonsPons of the University of Pennsylvania and Christine Schwartz of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Musick also serves as Senior Associate Dean of Research at the Brooks School.
The study is one of the first to assess changes over time in within-family earnings inequality, tracking what happened to
“If we can improve the science of surveys,” Enns said, “this will have huge positive spillover benefits to the public.”
“The gender revolution has stalled, and women remain economically vulnerable,” Musick said, noting the country is an outlier among wealthy nations in offering no mandated paid leave following childbirth, no system of subsidized childcare and overall scant public support for working families.
CUNNINGHAM IS NAMED A GLOBAL PUBLIC VOICE
CAWLEY TAKES LEADERSHIP ROLE WITH ORGANIZATIONINTERNATIONAL
Brooks School faculty briefs
Chris Barrett, a professor in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Barrett is among 120 members and 30 international members who were elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
John Cawley, a professor in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, director of the Cornell in Washington program, and a member of the Department of Economics faculty, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the International Health Economics Association (IHEA).
Barrett aims to apply his teaching, outreach, and research toward improving the well-being of the world’s poor in areas of health, nutrition, poverty, disaster risk management and natural resources management. His research is mainly in development and agricultural microeconomics, with strong links to environmental and resource economics. His areas of focus include the dynamics of poverty, food security and well-being; individual, household and community resilience and effective risk management; and agri-food value chains and complex food systems.
BARRETT ELECTED TO NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
The global organization has among its goals promoting and strengthening health economics research. Cawley’s primary field of research is the economics of risky health behaviors, with a focus on the economics of obesity. He studies the economic causes of obesity, the economic consequences of obesity, and economic approaches to obesity treatment and prevention.
IHEA organizes biennial international research conferences on health economics, offers webinars of cuttingedge research, awards annual prizes for the best published paper and the best doctoral student paper in health economics, and promotes the professional development of earlycareer scholars.
The program addresses worldwide inequities by elevating the expertise and voices of a diverse set of thought leaders—scholars, thinkers, and makers who can see new solutions and envision a more just and equitable future.
Jamein Cunningham, an assistant professor in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and a member of the Department of Economics faculty, has been selected as a Global Public Voice by Cornell’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. The Global Public Voices program promotes faculty public engagement in national debates and around the world.
Cunningham is interested in the intersectionality of institutional discrimination, access to social justice, crime and criminal justice, and race and economic inequality.
18 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
His research encompasses the economics of crime, urban economics, law and economics, labor economics, demography and applied Cunninghammicro-econometrics.hasbeen interviewed recently by the New York Times and CNN about criminal justice reform.
“We’re thrilled to welcome this new cohort of social insurance experts to the Academy’s membership. Together, they bring an expansive base of knowledge across topics critical to the social insurance field and will help elevate the Academy’s mission to strengthen social insurance and improve economic security in this country,” said Robert Espinoza, chair of the Membership Committee.
The ICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of communication.
BARRY ELECTED TO NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SOCIAL INSURANCE
Barry is one of 48 experts elected by NASI and the only Cornell University scholar in this year’s group of honorees. The national nonprofit organization advances solutions to challenges facing the nation while increasing public understanding of how social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare contribute to economic security.
Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy Dean Colleen L. Barry was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) in recognition of her national prominence as a health policy scholar.
NIEDERDEPPE RECEIVES GLOBAL DISTINCTION
It is a recognition of his distinguished contributions to the broad field of communication. Fellows represent only a small percentage of ICA membership. The Board of Directors of the ICA approved the election of Niederdeppe at the association’s annual conference, held in Paris in May.
Jeff Niederdeppe Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development at the Brooks School and a member of the Department of Communication faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has received a major honor in his field. He was elected to be a Fellow in the International Communication Association (ICA).
ORTIZ-BOBEA WILL ADVISE USDA ON RESEARCH PRIORITIES
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Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, an associate professor in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and a member of the faculty in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board.
Ortiz-Bobea focuses his research on how climate change impacts the economy and in devising ways to enhance adaptation. His work has explored the historical impacts of anthropogenic climate change on global agriculture and how extreme weather events affect key outcomes ranging from child malnutrition in Africa to the earning of publicly-traded companies in the US.
Ortiz-Bobea is one of 15 newly appointed or reappointed members of the board. Each represents a specific category of U.S. agricultural stakeholders. Ortiz-Bobea will represent Cornell University and all other 1862 land-grant colleges and universities within the board’s Agricultural Research, Extension and Education stakeholder category.
Serena Wang ’25 seeks to reduce food waste at Martha’s Café in Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, the home of the Brooks School. Wang works in the café. “I see plenty of pre-packaged food being thrown away at the end of the week,” Wang said. “Disturbed by the waste, I proposed a policy to save the leftover pre-packaged food at Martha’s and other eateries by donating it to an organization such as the Cornell Food Pantry. Students facing food insecurity could then have access to a greater variety of Thisfoods.”isthe
| Students Making a Difference |
Andreas Psahos ’24 will build and install a Little Free Library at the Risley Residential College dining hall. Little Free Libraries are book-sharing boxes where people can exchange books at no cost. Psahos hopes to offer books that emphasize diverse voices in what he says would be the first Little Free Library on campus. “I hope that the library could add to the publicly-minded and socially conscious conversations that Risley already engages in through its arts and theater programming,” Psahos said. “The Little Free Library can be an indirect but valuable way for students to stoke their intellectual curiosity outside of the classroom.” Psahos will be a resident advisor at Risley so he’ll be able to keep the library stocked.
Building a library, reducing food waste, studying in Denmark, helping children discover their inner superhero – that is how four undergraduate students at the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy plan to improve the world using funds awarded by Cornell’s Contribution Project.
20 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Nate Reilly ’23 partnered with a public school in Washington, D.C. to create a mural of D.C.-native heroes. A student in the Cornell in Washington Program, the gifted artist, used the $400 to pay for the paint. A large, exterior wall of Turner Elementary is now graced with images ranging from Kevin Durant to Shirley Horn. The school is now considering converting a brush-filled space in front of the mural into a small park. “I’m super excited about it,” Reilly said. “One of the most meaningful aspects to me is that the school doesn’t have an art program or art teacher. This is one of the first large scale art projects that the students are exposed to!”
Here is how the four Brooks awardees plan to use the funds:
Samantha Lambourne ’25 is traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark to learn how policies are implemented overseas. Lambourne is considering a career in government so comparing the approaches of the U.S. and Denmark to critical issues will be a plus.
to see the scope of opportunities that our students want to contribute to,” Burrow said. “They are noticing needs on campus, in their neighborhood, and around the world. The funding could be a small impact, it could be large, but these students are noticing things in their world and how they can be a part of it.”
The project awards $400 grants to Cornell undergraduates and the only obligation is to make a meaningful contribution to themselves or to others.
Brooks students plan small projects to make a big difference
second year of the Contribution Project. It was founded by Anthony Burrow, director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, and Ferris Family Associate Professor of Life Course Studies in the Department of “It’sPsychology.reallyamazing
Qazi is in Ithaca to learn more. “I need to refine my administrative and managerial abilities to add efficiency and productivity to the much-needed work for women’s empowerment and well-being that needs to be done in my country,” she said. “The Sloan Program will provide me the opportunities, resources and guidance to enhance my
A practicing radiologist, Qazi is the founder and director of Pink Pakistan Trust, a nongovernmental organization that works for the welfare and well-being of women in Pakistan with a focus on breast cancer prevention and care.
“The atmosphere in the classroom is invigorating because so many of the students like Zubaida are so accomplished,” said Nicholson, who directs the program. “I am teaching and learning at the same time. What she has done and what she will do in Pakistan is inspiring to her classmates and to her Cornell faculty.”
In its first two years, Pink Pakistan has opened breast cancer awareness centers in several locations and launched a smartphone application, the first of its kind in Pakistan. The app assists women in self-screening for breast cancer by explaining the step-by-step procedure. It also provides Pakistani breast cancer patients free consultations with national and international specialist doctors and psychiatrists through WhatsApp.
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While acknowledging that Pink Pakistan has little connection to the Medicare fee system, Qazi says she is acquiring knowledge that will make her a better manager. “The exposure to how the U.S. health care system works and its issues and solutions are providing me with critical insight into examining the health care system of my country and finding viable solutions to improve its performance,” she said.
From her perch at the end of the second row, Dr. Zubaida Qazi is learning the fine points of financing in the U.S. health care system. This day’s lecture in Warren Hall by Sean Nicholson, professor in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, concerns the fee schedule for Medicare reimbursements. Qazi is joined in the classroom by about 45 students from around the world. Many, like Qazi, are already physicians or health care executives.
administrative and managerial capabilities to play a leading role in the health care sector of my country.”
Sloan student aids women through Pink Pakistan Trust
While Sloan has offered a residential MHA for more than 60 years, the executive EMHA just launched its fourth cohort. Students combine in-person learning in Ithaca with remote coursework so that they can continue to work full time. Among the students in the room are clinicians, hospital administrators, ancillary facility managers, pharmaceutical executives and others.
Like the other Sloan Program executive master’s in health administration (EMHA) students in the Cornell Brooks School, Qazi seeks to enhance her skills so that she can advance her career and help more people. She is already having a positive impact on the quality of life for women in her native Pakistan.
Mark
DeAngelis ’91, MPA ’92 and Carmen Molinos ’94 are endowing the first scholarship for undergraduate students in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, establishing a scholarship for Brooks School MPA Program students, and making a long term commitment to the school’s annual fund.
Historic gifts by Mark DeAngelis and Carmen Molinos boost affordability for Brooks students
Their gift will contribute to the advancement of a new initiative at Cornell aimed at making its education even more accessible and to ensure that the most talented students from all socioeconomic backgrounds are fully equipped to tackle
Molinos said her own background was a factor in how the scholarship was shaped.
their generation’s greatest challenges. As part of the “ To Do the Greatest Good,” campaign, Cornell has committed $50 million to match undergraduate scholarship endowment gifts of at least $250,000, or gifts of $150,000 or more from alumni who have graduated in the last 20 years. Gifts that meet these criteria will be matched at a 1:2 ratio, increasing the impact of each gift and directing more funds to support undergraduate financial aid scholarships.
In addition to the endowed scholarship for undergraduates, Molinos and DeAngelis are establishing a scholarship for graduate students in the Brooks School MPA Program. DeAngelis received his Cornell MPA in 1992 after earning an undergraduate degree in policy analysis and management from Cornell. He earned a law degree and went on to a successful career as a corporate attorney in New York. DeAngelis then founded Macro Climate Solutions, a principal investment and advisory firm focused on alternative energy, environmental special situations, and other sustainable investments. He has been a senior member of Eldridge in Greenwich, CT, since its inception and currently serves as Principal.
| Celebrating Our Supporters |
“We are enormously grateful to Mark and Carmen for these foundational gifts as we launch the school,” said Brooks School Dean Colleen Barry. “By providing the first endowed scholarship for Brooks School undergraduates and by supporting the Brooks MPA Program and the Brooks School annual fund, Mark and Carmen are helping students, no matter their resources, receive a transformational policy education at Cornell.”
“We know that with the rising cost of tuition and other expenses associated with attending highly selective universities like Cornell, the Brooks School’s ability to offer competitive scholarships to high-quality prospective students will be a key part of its success,” DeAngelis said.
22 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
DeAngelis and Molinos say the endowed undergraduate scholarship was inspired by a desire to enable the Brooks School to attract top students independent of financial considerations, especially those who are the first in their family to go to college.
“Mark and I are passionate about the Brooks School’s ability to attract outstanding first-generation students by providing the scholarship support to address financial need,” Molinos said. “I was the first to attend university from my family and, as a result, I personally know the specific financial and other challenges that attending university presented for me and my family.”
“We are a family that gained so much from all that Cornell has to offer,” Molinos said. “It is only fitting that our commitment to the recently launched capital campaign spans across multiple Cornell units, including most notably the Brooks School.”
“In my life and career, I have experienced how organizations that value and seek to elevate talented women find higher levels of success,” she said, pointing to her service as chair of Morgan Stanley’s Women’s Leadership Conference. “Given PCCW’s focus on enhancing the involvement of women at Cornell, it was a natural fit for me. Additionally, having access to such a talented pool of women leaders from Cornell’s faculty, staff, student, and alumni communities is such an asset and motivator for me.”
In addition to generous financial support, Molinos and DeAngelis serve their alma mater in numerous ways. Molinos was appointed to the President’s Council of Cornell Women (PCCW), a group of highly accomplished alumni working to enhance the involvement of women students, faculty, staff, and alumni as leaders within the university and its many communities.
“The study of public policy is truly a multidisciplinary endeavor, drawing on policy, government, economics, and other related disciplines,” he said. “Given its strength in all these fields, I am confident that Cornell is uniquely situated to develop not only one of the preeminent policy schools, but one that as a ‘startup’ has the luxury and benefit of developing new ways to think about the instruction of public policy and evaluation of global policy issues. Setting up a separate, stand-alone school to harness and accelerate all the public policy research and teaching going on at Cornell was essential to best leverage that work and for Cornell to speak with one influential voice, under the Brooks banner, on issues related to public policy research and cutting-edge thinking in the field.”
The Darien, Connecticut couple’s commitment to Cornell’s “To Do the Greatest Good” campaign extends beyond the Brooks School. They are simultaneously establishing undergraduate scholarships and supporting the annual fund for the College of Human Ecology and the ILR School.
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DeAngelis has served as a regular colloquium speaker in the MPA Program. He helped design and launch the Environmental
Finance and Impact Investing (EFII) Fellows Program between the Brooks School MPA Program and the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. He was the inaugural chair of the MPA Program’s advisory council, currently serves as chair of the College of Human Ecology Dean’s Advisory Council and is a second term member of the Cornell University Council. DeAngelis is also a founding member of Dean Barry’s Brooks School Advisory Council.
Because of his education and service, DeAngelis has a deep understanding of public policy at Cornell and has long advocated for the creation of the Brooks School.
DeAngelis and Molinos hope their gifts inspire other alumni to contribute to Cornell’s ability “To Do the Greatest Good.”
Molinos is a Managing Director and Global Head of Consumer and Retail Mergers & Acquisitions at Morgan Stanley in New York. She began her career there in 1994, shortly after graduating from the ILR School at Cornell and has gone on to advise some of the firm’s most notable clients in the consumer, retail, and health care sectors.
New endowed scholarship honors academic excellence and is largest gift in Sloan Program history
“In retrospect, I cannot imagine what my pathway would have been had it not been for Cornell and the Sloan Program,” Ballantyne said. “To be guided to and through important topics with respect to health care policy, an understanding of the subsets of the health care arena, the preparation for addressing patients and the broader community, and a unique exposure to results and impact of informed health
Students demonstrating academic excellence in the Sloan Program in Health Administration in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy will benefit from a new $1 million endowed scholarship, the largest gift in the Program’s long history.
care leadership…. was not only a blessing but also a first-rate introduction to the incredible and ever-changing world of health care.”
Jeb E. Brooks, MBA ’70, his wife, Cherie Wendelken, and the Brooks Family Foundation provided the generous support to name the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Their investment in the Brooks School enables cutting-edge policy research, education, and outreach that will significantly improve people’s lives. Jeb is an advocate for socially responsible
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Ballantyne has consistently pushed the health care system to recognize the humanity of patients and the importance of the human touch even as technology improves efficiency. The human touch is also evident as he describes the scholarship fund: “It is my hope that the estate commitment opens the door so that academically qualified students who may have need for financial support can participate in the Sloan program. These students will not only reach full academic potential, but also upon graduation lead and enhance the oversight and operation of health care systems and improve health of the communities where they serve.”
Ballantyne’s gift will ultimately support numerous scholarships for deserving students and help the program maintain the momentum of its efforts to recruit more students from underrepresented groups.
The estate gift commitment comes from Reginald M. Ballantyne III, MBA ’67, a graduate of the Sloan Program. An Arizona-based health care executive and consultant, Ballantyne has served in senior leadership/principal roles with Tenet Healthcare, Vanguard Health Systems, PMH Health Resources, and as chairman of the American Hospital Association.
24 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Now he has another message for alumni: “I encourage Sloan and Cornell alumni to revisit the enormous benefit of the education they received as incentive to assist the next generation of students and alumni. It cannot be a secret that some students will be challenged to secure the funds necessary to cover the costs to attend an excellent academic institution. An increasing number of students are wary of taking on debt. Scholarships ensure that these students can manage the costs while receiving an excellent education. Not only will you be investing in the students, but also you are providing a legacy for those who follow.”
REGINALD M. BALLANTYNE III, MBA ’67,
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A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Ballantyne is a recipient of the ACHE Gold Medal Award for management excellence. In addition, he received the Institute for Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee and the Hope Award from the National
also supported Cornell and the Sloan Program in a variety of ways. In 2013, he delivered the keynote address for the annual Wagner Memorial Dinner that is a highlight of Sloan’s graduation celebration weekend on campus.
Multiple Sclerosis Society and served as a state senateconfirmed member and then president of the Arizona Board of BallantyneEducation.has
In addition to leading health care corporations and enterprises, Ballantyne has held positions on national boards including the Board of Commissioners for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and Chairman of the AHA Committee of Commissioners.
investment whose late father taught at Cornell and whose Cornell roots span three generations. Cherie holds a Ph.D. in architectural history from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a Harvard University professor. In 1999, Jeb and Cherie established the Brooks Family Foundation, which focuses on health care, underserved children and the environment.
“We are grateful beyond measure to Reg for this transformational gift in support of the Sloan Program,” said Colleen L. Barry, Inaugural Dean of the Brooks School. “It will greatly enhance our ability to prepare a diverse next generation of health care leaders. In turn, they will transform the lives of patients and their families in the U.S. and around the Theworld.”firstof its kind in the U.S., the Sloan Program prepares graduates with strong management skills and a deep understanding of the health care industry. It offers both a two-year residential master’s in health administration degree and an executive master’s through a hybrid learning approach. “Reg is an example of what is possible with a Sloan degree,” said Sean Nicholson, director of the Program. “He is one of the nation’s foremost leaders in the health care field and he has combined that with an impressive record of public service and philanthropy. We deeply appreciate his financial support but at least as valuable is the example he sets for our students of patient-first, community-first excellence.”
26 JEB E. BROOKS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Photo finish
FALL 2022 27 cornellians.cornell.edu Your alumni publication, connecting generations of Cornellians around the globe. Featuring Class Notes, alumni profiles, personal essays, Big Red traditions and more.
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@CornellBPPEstablishedpublicpolicy.cornell.eduinSeptember
of 2021, the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy is positioned to quickly become one of the nation’s leading schools of public policy. Through its teaching, research and global engagement, the Brooks School will improve the lives of people worldwide by advancing knowledge and informing policy solutions.