Blogging with Dean Lisa Servon

We have had some really terrific people serve as deans of Milano—in my current role I often look around and appreciate the legacy they left me. One testament to the enormous talent of the people who have held this position is that they have gone on to do more great things.

Case in point: my immediate predecessor, Fred Hochberg, who served as Milano dean from 2004 – 2008, has just been sworn in as the 23rd president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), the official export credit agency of the United States. In this capacity, Hochberg serves as chairman of the board. During the Clinton Administration, from 1998 through 2001, Hochberg served as deputy, then acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), where he helped to lead an enhancement of customer service and substantially increased lending to minority and women small-business owners. We are excited to have a member of the Milano community in such an important position in the Obama Administration.

And Edward J.Blakely, who preceded Hochberg as dean, just stepped down after nearly three years as the New Orleans recovery czar in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I saw Ed on a recent trip to New Orleans and he reflected on the opportunities and challenges that position offered. We have brought our expertise to that city through student project teams—the Finance Lab and the Chase Competition—over the past few years, and Ed was always extremely generous with his time, meeting with students and helping connect them to others in city government.

We wish both Fred and Ed the best of luck as they begin their next chapters!

I went to DC last week to attend a conference co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.  Fabulous meeting.  Really smart people in the room—people who care a lot about getting low- and moderate-income people access to solid financial services, fair mortgages and helping them build assets. I was invited to the conference and later learned I had jury duty that week.  I showed up at jury duty with a suitcase packed in the hope that I’d be sprung and could hop on a plane.  Fortunately, that’s exactly what happened.  

I got to DC in time to have a drink with Ritta McLaughlin, Milano alum Urban Policy 1995 who is also a member of the Dean’s Alumni Council.  McLaughlin recently left Bear Stearns in New York City to return to DC, her hometown, to become the Associate Treasurer for the district.  She is doing fabulously.  I am hoping we can schedule a field trip to DC for students in the fall—we now have so many members of the Milano family  there—alums, board members, and even a former dean!  Fred Hochberg  was just sworn in as head of the Import Export Bank. It’s an exciting time to be in DC.

This past Thursday, I co-facilitated an economic development conference at Rutgers University with Roland Anglin (now at Rutgers but has taught at Milano), Edwin Melendez (now at Hunter College but formerly at Milano), and Norm Glickman (Rutgers).  Doctoral students Anne Visser and Jeannette Rausch also attended.  It was a fantastic gathering of academics, practitioners, and people from the foundation world who gathered to talk about the vexing economic development problems—and opportunities—of our time.

There were people at both the DC and the Rutgers meeting who have worked closely with the new administration or are part of it. What struck me most about my conversations with and the presentations by these people is their openness and willingness to look for new ideas. Gene Sperling gave the keynote at the DC conference and, rather than take questions when he had finished, he asked the audience members to give him ideas to take back to the administration.  There is also an orientation toward working across the agency silos that typically characterize DC.  This kind of interagency work is critical to making radical change happen, and I am so energized by the work that is going on.

What a good time we all had two weeks ago for Milano’s commencement ceremony! We started the day on Thursday, May 21, with a Dean’s Brunch for graduating students and it was terrific. We all sat around a big table eating and talking about Milano—what worked, what we could improve on—and what folks were up to next. In the late afternoon we invited our graduates to bring their friends and families to an Open House in our building. We spread the party between the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th floors of 72 Fifth Avenue, had chamber music and jazz, champagne and cupcakes. And let me tell you I have never seen so many huge smiles in that building! I always love the Milano ceremony because it gives us a chance to meet our students’ families. We have such a diverse community, and this celebration gives me a real appreciation for where our students come from and the kinds of communities they will affect.

Our ceremony was terrific, too. Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority, gave a truly inspired keynote speech. His remarks were wide-ranging but also focused on all of the good work that needs to be done, and will be done by our graduates. Speaking about the architect Cass Gilbert, who designed the Woolworth Building and the George Washington Bridge, Ward urged all of us to answer the question: “What is your George Washington Bridge?” I am still thinking about that question. How would you answer it?

Whereas the Milano ceremony is more “down home,” the university commencement exercises at Madison Square Garden definitely lean more toward pomp and circumstance. New School President Bob Kerrey addressed the graduates and conferred honorary degrees. Dean of Yale Law School, expert on international law, and advocate for human and civil rights Harold Hongju Koh delivered the commencement address. Honorary Degree recipients included philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah; playwright, performer, and activist Eve Ensler; legendary opera singer Regina Resnik; and statesman and philanthropist John C. Whitehead. The student speaker was Miles Strucker, a BA student from Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts.

Milano students showed up in fine form and definitely made the most noise per person of all of the divisions. One of my fellow deans asked me later, “What have you been putting in the water over there at Milano?” Water, indeed—our folks were fired up!

I hope those of you who have graduated will continue to check in with us, let us know what (and how) you are doing, and stay engaged in Milano as we continue to grow and evolve.