State and Local Matters

Dear alumni and friends,

As I write this, the fall semester is in full swing with a busy schedule of on- and off-campus alumni activities. First on Maxwell‘s calendar this season was an alumni event held in Columbus, Ohio, coinciding with the 2022 Annual Conference of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), an organization of professional city and county managers and local government professionals. Maxwell has a legacy of producing local government leaders and has long been well-represented within ICMA. Our alumni working in city and county management frequently attend or speak at annual, regional and state conferences, and informal alumni gatherings occur regularly thanks to the organizing efforts of alumni volunteer Wally Bobkiewicz ’89 M.P.A.

The 2022 conference was particularly special as Jeff Towery ’85 M.P.A., city manager of McMinnville, Oregon, was inducted as president of ICMA—the second Maxwell alumnus to serve in this role. The late John E. Dever ’50 M.P.A. served as president in 1985-86, and numerous alumni have served in other ICMA volunteer capacities.

The Maxwell reception provided another opportunity for our alumni community to come together and connect, celebrating those working in local government and honoring Jeff as president. Joining the reception were more than two dozen Maxwell alumni attending the conference, almost 20 students associated with the school’s ICMA student chapter, and several alumni from the Columbus area. Also in attendance were faculty and staff, including

Dean David M. Van Slyke, Assistant Dean for Advancement Laine Norton, Director of Accelerated Learning, Global Engagement and Maxwell’s State and Local Initiative Dan Nelson, Professor Minch Lewis and Professor Tina Nabatchi, who also serves as faculty advisor for the ICMA-Maxwell student chapter. (Tina’s presentation on “Strategic Conflict Management” was so popular among conference attendees that the meeting room quickly filled to capacity!) Other events bringing Maxwell alumni and students together during the conference included a networking social and lunch to facilitate local government connections.

Over 2,000 Maxwell alumni work in a field or in a role intersecting with state and local government. With so many alumni connected to and having an interest in this sector, we are committed to continuing our partnership with professionals working in this area. For the latest state and local news, visit maxwell.syr.edu/state-and-local and, while you’re visiting our website, be sure to click on the “alumni” tab at the top of the page to share your professional accomplishments.

Stay well, Jessica

Murray Director of Alumni Relations

Maxwell students, alumni, faculty and staff present at the ICMA reception included, from left to right: Moise Laub ’20 B.A. (IR) and current M.P.A. student; Andrea Veach, online executive M.P.A. student; Dan Nelson, director of accelerated learning, global engagement and state and local initiative; M.P.A. students Shirley Chavarria, Fatima Muradi, Wahid Ishrar and Jessica Whitley; Dean David M. Van Slyke; alumnus Jeff Towery ’85 M.P.A.; Professor Tina Nabatchi; M.P.A. students Ana Caballero, RJ Thacker, Ashley Mathew and Gabriela Wemple; Yuliia Bychkovska, M.P.A./M.A. (IR) student; and Josephine Galdamez, M.P.A. student.

Submit Your Class Note

Online: maxwell.syr.edu/ alumni-update

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

50s

Roma Y. Stibravy ’54 B.A. (IR/ PSc) founded and serves as president of NGO Sustainability, an organization whose mission is to “help preserve planet earth for future generations by advocating for and promoting environmental stewardship globally, together with government, business and civil society.”

60s

Leo Kanawada Jr. ’65 M.A. (Hist) has published a new book, George Clinton: An American Founding Father and American Independence (AuthorHouse, 2022).

Jesse Duane Baker ’68 B.A. (Hist) was named guest manager of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum in Santa Barbara, Calif.

70s

Bruce Dearstyne ’74 Ph.D. (Hist) just published a new book, The Crucible of Public Policy: New York Courts in the Progressive Era (SUNY Press, 2022). The book describes the story of New York State courts, specifically the Court of Appeals in its discussion and decision making of key state statutes. Dearstyne specializes in New York state history. He has also published The Spirit of New York: Defining Events in the Empire State’s History, second edition (SUNY Press, 2022), which describes New York state history in 19 key events from founding to present day.

Mark Emmert ’76 M.P.A./’83 Ph.D. (PA) recently retired as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a position he held since 2010.

Jode S. Millman ’76 B.A. (Soc) has released a second thriller, titled Hooker Avenue (Level Best Books, 2022). The book is the sequel Millman’s award-winning debut, The Midnight Call (Immortal Works, 2020).

Syedur Rahman ’77 Ph.D. (PA) has retired after a 40-plus year career in international education administration. He served as director of international sponsored programs at Northern Virginia Community College and, before that, was director of international programs and coordinator of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program at Penn State University.

Robert Cashel ’78 B.A. (PSc) is president and chief executive officer of Family and Children’s Agency, an adoption agency based in Norwalk, Conn. He is also currently on the board and executive committee of the Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies.

80s

Benjamin Diokno ’81 Ph.D. (Econ) is the fifth governor of the Bangkok Sentral ng Pilipinas and has begun his term as secretary for the department of finance in the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Debra Rahmin Silberstein ’81 B.A. (Econ), an estate planning attorney, was named Family/Elder Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal, a periodical based in Washington, D.C. Michelle Thompson ’82 B.A. (PSt) is a professor at the University of New Orleans in the Planning and Urban Studies Department. She was recently interviewed for the Business World article, “15 minute city in Noire de Paris,” where she describes the 15 minute city as an urban design that reduces carbon emissions, increases walkability and incorporates education and social needs within a reasonable distance from home. This model focuses where social and economic gaps occur in cities to provide more sustainable and equitable models of city life.

Robert Rupp ’83 Ph.D. (Hist) has published a book, The Primary That Made a President: John F. Kennedy and West Virginia (University of Tennessee Press, 2020). The book details how, besides propelling Kennedy to the 1960 Democratic nomination, the primary changed the face of politics by advancing religious tolerance, foreshadowing future political campaigns and focusing national attention on a misunderstood region. Professor emeritus at West Virginia Wesleyan College, Rupp is past chair of the West Virginia State Election Commission.

Margaret FitzPatrick ’88 B.A. (PSt) was appointed to the board of directors of AN2 Therapeutics, a biomedical company based in Menlo Park, Calif., that develops treatments for rare, chronic and serious infectious diseases.

John Mandyck ’89 B.A. (PSt)/’92 M.P.A. published an article in the Harvard Business Review titled “What If Banks Had to Disclose the Climate Impact of Their Investments.” Mandyk is the CEO of Urban Green Council, a visiting scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an adjunct faculty member for the University of Connecticut School of Business.

Charri Hern Shairer ’89 M.P.A. joined Providence CommunityHousing, an organization that provides affordable homeownership in New Orleans, La.

90s

Amy Bernstein ’90 B.A. (PSc) is a board member for the Ryan Shazier Fund for Spinal Rehabilitation. She also works as a senior professional staff nurse for the inpatient medical surgical oncology floor at UPMC Magee Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa. Additionally, she serves as a board member and volunteer for One Day to Remember, an organization that helps children have one free day to make memories with parents who have cancer.

Timothy Robb ’90 B.A. (PSc) has joined World Insurance Associates LLC as general counsel. World Insurance Associates LLC is a national brokerage specializing in personal and commercial insurance lines, bonding, employee benefits, financial and retirement services and human capital management solutions.

Robin Lamott Sparks ’91 M.P.A. was named executive director of the Community Health Network of Connecticut Foundation.

Terrence Guay ’92 M.A. (IR)/’96 Ph.D. (PSc) was appointed associate dean for international programs at Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business.

Scott Shuster ’92 B.A. (PSc), through his real estate company, 11 Development, completed the conversion of a church and rectory in Cambridge, Mass., into a singlefamily residence and condominiums. In addition, Shuster has continued his 20-year relationship in a leadership role with the Jimmy Fund, an organization which raises funds for pediatric cancer research for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Jennifer Rafael ’94 B.A. (PSc) is working at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association as the director of communications and marketing. The Alexandria,

Va., organization is dedicated to the general welfare of federal workers and retirees.

Ian Forsyth ’96 J.D./M.A. (IR) started a job as professor of national security studies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

Robyn Moore ’96 M.P.A. was appointed managing director of Piper Sandler Companies, an investment bank headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn.

Kaya Adams ’98 M.A. (IR) started at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as mission director in the Kyrgyz Republic. Adams has been with USAID since 1999, having served in Rwanda, the Central Asia Regional Mission in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Iraq and the Southern Africa Regional Mission based in South Africa. Her career is focused on advancing democracy, governance and humanitarian affairs in post-conflict settings.

00sJohn Hall ’00 M.P.A. is the new director of the city of Spokane’s Neighborhood, Housing and Human Services division and oversees the city’s housing, homelessness and community development initiatives.

Andrea Hickerson ’01 B.A. (IR) was named dean of the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.

Robert Simpson ’01 M.P.A. has been confirmed to serve on the Empire State Development Board of Directors. Empire State Development promotes job creation and business development to create a strong and growing economy for the state of New York.

Alejandro Perez ’02 M.A. (IR) is the senior vice president of policy and government affairs at the Washington, D.C.-based World Wildlife Fund, an organization that seeks to preserve wildlife globally.