Maxwell School News

James Ajello ’76 M.P.A. is the recently retired executive vice president and CFO of Hawaiian Electric Industries. He recently made a $250,000 gift to create a professorship and support interdisciplinary research in energy and environmental policy at the Maxwell School.

"At SparkCharge, our mission is to reduce CO2 emissions coming from gasoline generating vehicles by putting more electric vehicles on the road. We’re doing that by removing barriers to owning electric vehicles and improving ease of use," says Josh Aviv ’15 B.A. (Econ), founder and president of the company.

"The most forward-thinking companies integrate a sustainability approach into their corporate strategy and how they operate. Their employees, customers, supply chains, and even their investors are watching closely and demanding progress," says Kenneth Pontarelli '92 B.S. (Econ), a former Goldman Sachs executive who funds a Maxwell-based professorship in environmental sustainability and finance.

"I have found it easier to approach climate change through the lens of local issues, such as air pollution, traffic congestion, waste management and sanitation, etc. There are near-term, tangible benefits that citizens and governments seek, and in addressing them in smart ways we would also be addressing the longer-term climate change response agenda," says Pradeep Tharakan ’03 M.P.A., a principal energy specialist with the Asian Development Bank.

The Northeast Residential Energy Use Pilot Study is an interdisciplinary project between students and faculty in the Maxwell School, SU College of Law, SU’s iSchool, and the SU College of Engineering and Computer Science. The study will employ high resolution metering for long-term monitoring of electricity usage of individual households.

"The President, like every actor in our national government, is bound by the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution allows the President to take certain actions, but the list is quite short, especially compared to the long list of Congress's Article I powers," says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

Fears of recession are growing, especially in the business community, and the question is whether that uncertainty will spread to consumers. "We won’t see that until we start to see a real slowdown in hiring," says Professor of Economics Mary Lovely.

We tested whether weekly reminders and encouragement would affect attendance.

Project to to improve garbage fee collections on overdue accounts

"My mom told the seven of us to go outside and play," University Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer recalled. "Today’s mom says, ‘Get in the van and I’ll drive you from Spanish camp to violin lessons.’ The idea is to cultivate your child, give them every possible advantage, and it clearly spills over to the intensification of grandparenting." Harrington Meyer was interviewed for the New York Times article "When Grandparents Help Hold It All Together." 

"Because of the fact that it has a horizontal leadership structure, the decentralized network of bosses, a lot of local gangs with specialized duties that are affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel, what we're witnessing is sort of a moment of transition," says Gladys McCormick, Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.

In the wake of President Trump's recent tweets about four Democratic congresswomen of color, Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science, assesses that coded racial language began to be used as a political strategy under President Richard Nixon.

“I was grateful for the services, for the amount of resources available for individuals like me to help me establish a system, a path, an opportunity to achieve dreams and goals,” Abdul Saboor '18 B.A. (PSc)/’19 E.M.P.A./CAS Conflict Resolution said, about the importance of InterFaith Works' presence in Syracuse.