January/February 2010
Around the Quads
Alumni in the News
Robert Paaswell ’56, ’57ERobert Paaswell ’56, ’57E has been appointed interim president of the City College of New York. A distinguished professor of civil engineering in The Grove School of Engineering, Paaswell is an expert on transportation operations, management and planning. He has been the director of the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems and the director and CEO of the University Transportation Research Center for Region 2. Last year, Paaswell received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council on Transportation at the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation Policy. He also received the Rutgers University Outstanding Civil Engineering Alumnus Award in 2003 and the Secretary’s Medal for Distinguished Service from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1976. He was executive director of the Chicago Transportation Authority, the second largest public transportation agency in the United States, from 1986–89 and joined the CUNY faculty in 1990.
Gerard Lynch ’72, ’75L, the Paul J. Kellner Professor of Law at Columbia, became the first appeals court judge nominated by President Barack Obama ’83 to be confirmed by Congress. In September, the Senate voted 94–3 to confirm Lynch to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, one of the most influential courts in the country. Prior to his new position, Lynch served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York since 2000, when President Clinton appointed him.
Joel Klein ’67, chancellor of the New York City school system, the largest in the country, talked about his life, the problems with the U.S.’ public school systems and a variety of other issues in a lengthy interview in October with Fortune. Klein spent 12 years as a student in the New York City public school system before heading for the College, Harvard Law and a stint in President Clinton’s Justice Department. Since becoming chancellor, “test scores have improved, graduation rates have risen, and the racial and ethnic achievement gap has narrowed,” according to the article. “Klein’s progress in a chronically poor system has been so remarkable that two years ago his department won the Broad Prize for Urban Education, America’s top education award.”
Jamie Kitman ’79Jamie Kitman ’79, the New York bureau chief for Automobile Magazine, won a 2009 National Magazine Award for his monthly column, “Noise, Vibration and Harshness.” It is the first time in the awards’ 44 years that a car-enthusiast magazine has won. “Like all the best critical columnists, Jamie Kitman pushes our envelope, our buttons and our preconceived notions of how things should be with style, humor and bravery,” said Jean Jennings, president and editor-in-chief of Automobile Magazine. “Whether or not you agree with him, he is always a great read.”
Steve Bargonetti ’78Steve Bargonetti ’78 is channeling one of his inspirations in the hit Broadway musical Hair. In the on-stage band, Bargonetti performs as a rocking Jimi Hendrix-like lead guitarist, adding new riffs to the timeless soundtrack and bringing down the house with a whammy-fueled Star Spangled Banner. His latest gig is another in a unique career that has included being the resident guitarist on Sesame Street, as well as playing with Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Garth Brooks and others. CCT profiled Bargonetti in the March/April 2006 issue.
Julia Stiles ’05 earned rave reviews for playing Carol in David Mamet’s Oleanna, which ran from October 2009 until January 2010 at the Golden Theater on Broadway. The New York Times said Stiles was “luminous” as a college student who accuses her professor (played by Bill Pullman) of sexual impropriety. Stiles took a leave from the College in 2004 to star in Oleanna in London.
Ethan Rouen ’04J