Alumni News

Thanks to the generosity of one “citizen of the world,” dozens of budding scholars have chased far-flung intellectual goals.

Len Lopoo, professor of public administration and international affairs, and Kerri Raissian '08 M.P.A./'13 Ph.D. (PA), argue that the steady decline of the birthrate in the U.S. could be a "harbinger of difficulties on the horizon," impacting Social Security and Medicare, and affecting the number of young people to enter the military and to innovate in business.

A new, $3-million philanthropic commitment from alumnus Joseph Strasser will create a permanently endowed and named professorship in public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, while also building on a legacy of giving that places Strasser among the most significant Maxwell donors of all time.

Chris Meek '92 B.A. (Econ/PSc), current E.M.P.A. student and chairman of SoldierStrong, says that the use of technology can help injured veterans get back on their feet. 

Gerry Cramer was the perfect friend of the Maxwell School - generous, visionary, and ultimately trusting. Cramer passed away on February 13, 2018.

"The economics profession still struggles to be inclusive. But my hope is that one day, when a woman (of whatever height) presents her research, no one will be surprised when she does a stellar job," writes Mary Daly ’91 M.Phil. (Econ)/’94 Ph.D. (Econ).

The Saint Andrew’s Society of New York Scholarship, which named Hamish Gibbs ’17 B.A. (Geog) as one of its recipients, funds one year of graduate study in Scotland for students in the United States who are of Scottish descent.

Steve Hagerty’s company helps communities facing disasters — acts of God and acts of terror that would otherwise overwhelm the regular operations of government.

Peter Wilcoxen, professor of public administration and international affairs, will serve as the inaugural Ajello Professor in Energy and Environmental Policy. The professorship was created from a $250,000 gift from Maxwell School alumnus James Ajello ’76 M.P.A.

One of the highlights of Maxwell’s 90th anniversary celebrations this year was a school-wide party. Notably, the Passport to Our Past activity invited people to carry a small, informative mock passport to stations at departments, centers, and institutes around the School, thus reminding those “travelers” of all the individual enterprises that make up Maxwell.

Alumnus James M. Harkin ’76 M.S.Sc./’78 Ph.D. (SSc) and his wife, Lucille Boilard-Harkin, have made estate plans that will provide ongoing scholarship support to students in Maxwell’s M.P.A. degree program. The gift will support Maxwell’s Birkhead-Burkhead Fund, of which James Harkin was a founding donor in 1987.