The New school for social research
broadens board leadership

Dean Milberg: "Diplomats, alums and distinguished scholars" among new Board members

The New School for Social Research (NSSR) has announced the addition of five new members to its Board of Governors.

NEW YORK (February 17, 2015) – The New School for Social Research (NSSR) announced today that it has added five new members to its Board of Governors. The expansion represents a strategic move to broaden the experience base and the geographical composition of the Board to better support the needs of the school.

“Our new board members will bring new ideas and new energy to our unique graduate school,” said William Milberg, Dean of the New School for Social Research. “They are diplomats, alums and distinguished scholars, and they will be crucial to our effort to reinvigorate the role of The New School in the training of future scholars. The NSSR was founded at a moment of crisis for modernity, and we find ourselves today at a similar moment. We are pleased to welcome this distinguished group to our Board as we reaffirm our importance in higher education.” 

The new members are experts in their respective fields and offer extensive connections to like-minded organizations throughout New York and the world. Each of the new Board members has a close affinity with The NSSR, particularly its history as a home for exiled scholars from Nazi-controlled Europe.

The new members will join the Board of Governors for their first meeting in April of this year. They include:

Busso von Alvensleben

Ambassador (ret.) Busso von Alvensleben, is an attorney and joined the diplomatic service of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1978. He served in Kenya, Israel and Geneva (Permanent Mission to the United Nations), and later, as private secretary to the former German Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker. Subsequently, he served as deputy chief, then chief of protocol, of the German Federal Government. From 2003 until he retired in 2014, he held the following positions: German ambassador to Sweden, commissioner for global issues (civilian crisis prevention, human rights, humanitarian aid and international terrorism) at the Federal Foreign Office, ambassador to Ireland and German consul general in New York. He is a member of the Regional Advisory Board of TU Dortmund University.

Maria-Theresia von Alvensleben

Maria-Theresia von Alvensleben was trained as a vocal artist and dressage rider, and she graduated as a nursery school teacher. In Nairobi, she worked with impoverished communities; in Tel Aviv and Geneva, she worked with women’s organizations. In Germany, she studied and practiced logotherapy and existential analysis according to Viktor Frankl; her clients were people in crisis situations. Since the unification of Germany, she has been actively engaged in cultural and social projects in Eastern Germany.

Howard N. Blitman M.A.’75 (Politics)

Howard Blitman is a consulting engineer and the president of The Blitman Building Corporation (construction managers, builders and developers). He received a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Master of Arts in Political Science and Government from NSSR.

After active duty during the Korean War and resuming his career, he joined Blitman Construction Corporation and its associated engineering firm. In 1970, Mr. Blitman was elected president and served eleven years ending in 1981 when he formed The Blitman Building Corporation.

Mr. Blitman’s company was involved over the years in some of the construction projects for The New School, including the project that transitioned then Lane Department Store, on the site of the current University Center, into the Graduate Faculty Building.

Anthony (Tony) Marx

Anthony W. Marx was appointed president and CEO of The New York Public Library in 2011, and he has worked to expand the Library's essential role as a provider of free educational opportunities for all New Yorkers, focusing on increasing services to students, researchers, and scholars; improving educational programming in NYPL’s 87 neighborhood branches; partnering with the city's Department of Education to increase public school access to critical learning materials; and expanding public access to e-books and other digital resources.

As president of Amherst College from 2003 to 2011, Mr. Marx, a recipient of multiple fellowships and the prize-winning author of three books and various scholarly articles, passionately promoted access to higher education for lower-income students. Prior to joining Amherst, he served as professor and director of Undergraduate Studies of Political Science at Columbia University. In the 1980s, Mr. Marx helped found Khanya College, a South African secondary school that prepared more than 1,000 black students for university.

Robin Schletter M.A.’78 (Psychology)

Robin Schletter is an executive coach with Robin Schletter LLC, and a senior consultant with The Five O’Clock Club, a leading outplacement firm. In her role as an executive coach, Ms. Schletter works with high potential management to overcome persistent obstacles and performance challenges in order to build their value to the organization and their commitment to engagement. In addition to individual coaching, Ms. Schletter employs a similar philosophy in designing workshops to help executive committees work more cohesively to achieve greater results.

Ms. Schletter spent her 30-year professional career in the cable TV arena, working with companies across the United States and Canada to help them build their businesses. Ms. Schletter is a graduate of Columbia University’s Advanced Executive Coaching Certification Program. She earned a Master’s in Psychology from The NSSR in New York City, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Sociology, summa cum laude, from Long Island University.

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