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2nd Annual Alumni Day: Health Care and Employment During a Recession
Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) held its second annual Alumni Day on Saturday, May 1, 2010. This year’s Alumni Day focused on two issues: health care agendas and employment in a recession, and concluded with an address by the co-discoverer of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The day began with a welcome message 
by Dean John H. Coatsworth and an address by SIPA alumnus and New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio (MIA ’87).
The first policy panel, entitled “Health Care in the United States: Healing a Broken System,” was moderated by Dr. Lawrence Brown (Mailman School of Public Health). The issue of health care was on everyone’s radar during the past year. In the United States, it dominated congressional debates, culminating in the passage of historic health care reform legislation.
- Read more about the panelists here.
- Panelist Mary Catlin's Power Point presentation.
- Panelist Kimberly George's Power Point presentation.
- Panelist
Paul Goebel's Power Point presentation.
The second policy panel, entitled “Global Health Care: Emerging Trends and Priorities.” was moderated by Dr. Marni Sommer (Mailman School of Public Health). The panel addressed issues of health care access, infrastructure, and public/ private partnerships for emerging economies. On a global scale, natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and China and recent floods in Brazil have demonstrated the lingering damage and destruction that limited health care access and weak infrastructure can have on devastated populations.
- Read more about the panelists here.
Alumni also had the opportunity to attend a workshop focusing on general employment challenges during a recession. The workshop session “Where the Jobs Are: Boosting Your Career in a Recovering Economy” was moderated by Meg Heenehan, executive director of SIPA's Office of Career Services. It provided perspective and insight for anyone looking to make a career move and/or evaluating current career choices. Read more about the panelists here.
Alumni Day concluded with a keynote address by Dr. Jay Levy (IF ’62, MD ’65), co-discoverer of the AIDS virus, HIV. Read Dr. Levy's remarks.
Alumni Day 2010 photo album.
Alumni Council Chair Roger Baumann (MIA ’85, IF ’84) noted “Alumni Day provided a unique opportunity to reconnect with old friends, ask questions, share ideas, and learn about the extraordinary achievements of our alumni as well as exciting developments under way at SIPA.”