:: CLASSNOTES | winter 2013 | www.hks.harvard.edu/alumni
Executive Education
30%
ALUMNI DISCOUNT
Harvard Kennedy School degree program alumni are eligible to receive an exclusive 30% discount on openenrollment hks Executive Education programs. ksgexecprogram.harvard.edu/alumni-discount
Initiative (unwired Global), garnering thought leadership from around the world on programs leveraging mobile (social media, sms, cloud computing, rfid) to solve some vexing global development challenges.
David Moran hksee was the Libertarian Party candidate for governor of West Virginia in 2012. “Will keep you posted on progress.”
t 1996 Monica Davila hksee writes, “Saludos para mis compañeros de mpa 1996. Ahora estoy trabajando como Profesora e Investigadora en la Escuela de Gobierno y Administración Pública (egap) en Ecuador. Me gustaría recibir información sobre maestrías en gestión pública en las universidades latinoamericas.”
Jeremy Hunter mpp married graphic designer Tomo Ogino in Santa Barbara, California. He was also promoted to assistant professor of practice at the Drucker School of Management. His executive Mind and Practice of Self Management courses were recently featured on npr’s Morning Edition. He also gave the keynote lecture at the Mindfulness in Business conference in Stockholm as well as participated in the first large-scale Academy of Management panel on mindfulness and management. After all that, he took a long nap.
Benjamin Kahn mpp returned to the United States from UN work in Indonesia and South Sudan to take up a position at the Federal Reserve Bank in its Kansas City economic research division.
Jeffrey Lee mc/mpa retired from 25 exciting years in the U.S. Coast Guard chasing drug smugglers from Alaska to South America, keeping critical frozen waterways open in the Great Lakes, and developing curricula and training Coast Guard and Navy personnel in anti-terrorism force protection immediately after the tragedy of 9/11. He worked as a
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LIFELONG LE ARNING
Department of Defense contractor in foreign military sales for two years at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, and is now working as the Navy’s only maritime mining officer in advanced underwater warfare at the Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command in San Diego.
Patrick Mendis hksee was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a commissioner to the U.S. National Commission for unesco. He previously served as an American diplomat and a military professor during the Clinton and Bush administrations. He is a distinguished senior fellow in the School of Public Policy and an affiliate professor of public and international affairs, both at George Mason University.
Guy Swan nsf retired from active duty in the U.S. Army in February and joined the Association of the United States Army as vice president. He was recently appointed to the fema National Advisory Council.
Antonio Torres mc/mpa has been reelected for a fourth term as an elected member of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency’s Employees Retirement System. “Also, I continue to serve on the lisc-Boston Advisory Board and as cochair of the Mel King Institute for Community Building.”
Rolando Vela hksee was recently selected to be chair of the Regional Small Cities Coalition (rscc) in the Rio Grande Valley. This is a regional organization of cities under 20,000 under the umbrella of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council. The purpose of the rscc is for cities to work together and collaborate on regional projects. As the city manager of Laguna Vista, Texas, Rolando continues to be a strong advocate for regionalism, collaboration, and the importance of public/private partnerships.
Diego von Vacano mpp received tenure in Texas a&m University’s politi-
cal science department last year. “My new book, The Color of Citizenship: Race, Modernity and Latin American Political Thought, came out with Oxford University Press a few months ago. I was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and at Stanford before coming back to Texas a&m. I am now working on a book on immigrant identities.”
Azzie Young mpa is the president and ceo of Mattapan Community Health Center in Boston. The health center held its grand opening and ribbon cutting on September 10 for its new $34M green and healthy building in Mattapan Square (the heart of a Boston neighborhood). The four-story building has retail space on the ground floor for Citizens Bank and cvs pharmacy, the first pharmacy in Mattapan Square in more than 30 years. In the new center, Mattapan chc will be able to see more patients, provide more health services, and build a healthier community with its partners.
t 1997 Seung Choi mc/mpa has been working on nuclear energy projects prior to and also after hks. “I am happy to work for developing a new-generation safer nuclear power technology at NuScale Power, llc. You might think it is a bit out of track as an hks career, but I’m pleased with my contribution to the energy arena. Have a wonderful life, whatever you do!”
Pablo de Lafuente mpa writes, “Last year, after living six years with my family in Brazil and Paraguay, I moved back to Argentina to work in soybeans, still with Monsanto.”
Yasukazu Fuse mc/mpa reports that his ninth book has just been published.
Mark Ghilarducci hksee was appointed in February 2012 by Governor Edmund Brown as secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency and homeland security advisor.
Rachel Gisselquist mpp writes, “My husband, Omar McDoom, and I welcomed our first baby, Zara Kiyoko McDoom, on April 26, 2012. I am currently a research fellow with the United Nations University’s World Institute for Development Economics Research in Helsinki.”
Leith Greenslade mpa was appointed cochair of child health at the mdg Health Alliance. The Alliance was launched in May 2012 to support Every
Woman, Every Child, an unprecedented global movement spearheaded by the UN secretary general to mobilize global action to improve the health of women and children. The Alliance works with many partners to accelerate achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015. See mdghealthalliance.org for more details.
Donald Gross hksee reports that his book on U.S.– China relations — The China Fallacy: How the U.S. Can Benefit from China’s Rise and Avoid Another Cold War — was published by Bloomsbury in October. The book argues that the best way to overcome the “China threat” and advance U.S. interests in East Asia is by achieving a stable peace with China through the resolution of outstanding security and economic conflicts between the two countries. “I hope it will be of particular interest to Kennedy School students, faculty, and alumni. For more information, please go to donaldgross.net.” Fred Kacher mpp completed his tour as special assistant and lead speechwriter to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Promoted to the rank of captain last year, he has been selected to join the command team of the U.S. Navy’s first destroyer squadron in Singapore. Fred’s book on leadership for new officers, The Newly Commissioned Naval Officer’s Guide, has recently been selected for use in the Navy’s training program for new officers preparing to join their first ship.
Yekyu Chung Kim mpp, after serving as legislative management officer for House affairs under Secretary Clinton at the State Department since 2009, writes “I am taking a one-year break to spend time raising my two children, ages seven and 11. I had gone to the State Department after working in Senator Clinton’s nyc office for six years as deputy director of constituent affairs.” Yekyu is married to fellow hks alumnus Mark Kim phd 2002, and they reside in Washington, DC, and New York City.
Pol Klein mc/mpa writes, “It was fantastic to see everyone at our 15th reunion in May, and I’m sending light to those who were unable to attend. Presently, I’m designing visual communications as a multimedia designer and developer for international health policy on topics such as family planning and hiv/aids for governments around the world. I’m also teaching graphic & web design/development part-time at Boston University