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Dean's State of the School Letter
October 2007
Dear SIPA Alumni,
As students and faculty returned to Morningside Heights this fall, they found a number of new and exciting developments at SIPA. Many of you may be familiar with some of our good news from the alumni office’s monthly e-newsletter, but I nonetheless write to be sure that you are abreast of the latest happenings at the School.
The best news, of course, is that Professor Lisa Anderson, SIPA’s dean for the past decade, is back in the classroom as usual this fall. Her leadership strengthened SIPA academically and contributed immensely to its growing international reputation.
SIPA continues to attract some of the leading faculty in the field. I am delighted to announce that José Antonio Ocampo has joined the faculty as a Professor of Professional Practice. He will teach courses in the Ph.D. program in Sustainable Development and play an active role in Columbia’s Committee on Global Thought. Prior to his appointment at SIPA, Professor Ocampo served with distinction as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); and as Minister of Finance and Public Credit in Colombia, among many other positions. He is the author of numerous books and articles on macroeconomics policy and theory, economic development, international trade, and economic history. We are fortunate to have him with us.
We are also fortunate to have recruited Guillermo Calvo to direct SIPA’s mid-career Program in Economic Policy Management. Calvo brings a wealth of scholarly and practitioner experience to SIPA from his recent work as Director of the Center for International Economics and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland; as Chief Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank, and as Senior Advisor in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund.
Continuing SIPA’s tradition of faculty service in the government of the City of New York, Professor William B. Eimicke, Director of the Picker Center for Executive Education, will take public service leave in the coming academic year to serve as Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Planning and Policy in the New York City Fire Department. During the year, he will report directly to Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and will focus on the implementation of the department’s strategic plan, the performance management system, and the development of university education partnerships to promote executive and management skill building.
The faculty of the School continue to bring us accolades, raising SIPA’s profile as a center of policy research and practice. Michael Doyle was invited to give the prestigious Tanner Lectures in Human Values at Princeton in November of last year, speaking on the law and ethics of pre-emptive war. In January, Jeffrey Sachs was awarded the Padma Bhushan Award by the President of India; the prize recognizes distinguished service to the nation of India. Rodolfo de la Garza was invited to spend a semester at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (“Sciences Po”) on a faculty exchange, teaching on U.S. Immigration Policy. David Stark will spend the spring semester of the coming year in residence at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, where he will continue his research on the co-evolution of political and business ties in Eastern Europe. As is always the case, dozens of faculty have published in distinguished journals and have secured prestigious grants to support their research.
SIPA recently welcomed a new Director of Alumni Relations, Daniela Coleman, and a new Director of Development, Roshma Azeem. Ms. Coleman comes to SIPA from the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU in Brussels, where she was a senior policy officer. Ms. Azeem, a 2004 SIPA graduate, has worked for five years at Columbia, where she has served as a major gifts officer for Columbia College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the School of General Studies and was responsible for reunion fund-raising at Columbia Law School.
SIPA’s fund-raising efforts in 2006-07 continued to build the School’s endowment while contributing directly to support student fellowships and summer internships. Over 1,000 donors contributed to a total of $5.1 million to support SIPA’s core programs during the year. The annual Global Leadership Awards Dinner was the most successful yet, raising more than $900,000 for student fellowships and programs. As always, the involvement and support of SIPA’s alumni have been critical to the success of all of these endeavors. To formalize such alumni involvement, SIPA is pleased to announce the creation of a new SIPA Alumni Council. The Alumni Council, chaired by Roger Baumann (MIA ’85), held its second meeting last month and is eager to engage participation in areas such as career services, regional alumni groups, and communication. More information will become available as the Council gets underway.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the creation of the MPA program. SIPA will mark the occasion on February 16, 2008, with a daylong program of alumni and faculty panels. The day will close with a reception and dinner, providing alumni with opportunities to network and reconnect. The celebration will recognize the accomplishments of alumni and faculty associated with all of the variations on the MPA degree that have developed over the years, including the Program in Economic Policy Management, the Executive MPA, and the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy. We also plan to launch a new effort to increase the fellowship support SIPA can provide to the exceptionally talented MPA students that enroll each year. SIPA’s many MIA graduates will also be invited to join us for the festivities. I look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
John H. Coatsworth
Acting Dean