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Paul Volcker, WITNESS, Mitchell Silber ‘05 are SIPA’s 2011 Global Leaders
At its annual Global Leadership Awards Dinner on April 14, SIPA honored a trio of guardians of the public interest in economic policymaking, human rights advocacy, and homeland security practice.
The honorees were former Fed chairman Paul Volcker; international human rights advocacy group WITNESS; and alumnus Mitchell Silber (MIA ’05), director of intelligence analysis for the New York Police Department. NBC News' Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd served as master of ceremonies.
Volcker, who chaired the Federal Reserve under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, is widely credited with ending high levels of inflation in the U.S. in the 1970s and early 1980s. More recently, Volcker advised President Barack Obama on Wall Street reforms as chair of Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board from 2009 until earlier this year.
WITNESS is an international non-profit that trains human rights advocates to use video to publicize and end human rights abuses. Founded in 1992 by the musician Peter Gabriel, WITNESS has since worked with more than 300 partner organizations in over 80 countries.
Silber, who received his MIA from SIPA in 2005, directs the New York Police Department’s counterterrorism intelligence analysis. Launched in 2002 after the September 11 attacks, Silber’s team comprises civilian experts who help NYPD officers and detectives navigate terrorist networks. Silber and his team were featured in the New York Times in 2010.
Chuck Todd is Chief White House Correspondent and political director for NBC News. He also serves as on-air political analyst for "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Today," "Meet the Press," and MSNBC.
Each year, SIPA’s Global Leadership Awards honor groundbreaking work in global policymaking and practice. Proceeds from the dinner provide fellowship support for SIPA students.
Alex Burnett, updated April 15, 2011