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Honoree
Biographies
Allan H.
Dobrin
joined The City
University of
New York as
Senior Vice
Chancellor and
Chief Operating
Officer in
September 2001.
His tenure in
public service
spans nearly 20
years, and he
can be credited
with the
implementation
of key
initiatives. In
this role, Mr.
Dobrin is
responsible for
all
institutional
business
operations and
will provide
organization-wide
leadership in
planning and
policy making in
the areas under
his supervision.
From 1998 to
2001 Mr. Dobrin
served as
Commissioner of
the New York
City Department
of Information
Technology and
Telecommunications
(DoITT), and
Chief
Information
Officer for the
City of New
York. Mr. Dobrin
simultaneously
serves as
Executive
Director of the
Mayor's Task
Force on Special
Education, which
in 1998 released
recommendations
on the reforming
of the Board of
Education's $2.5
billion Special
Education
program
Before assuming
his position at
DoITT, Mr.
Dobrin served as
Executive Deputy
Director of the
Mayor's Office
of Operations,
where he managed
the City's $30
million
Technology Fund
and its Customer
Service
Initiative. The
New York City
Technology Fund
has provided
funding for and
oversight of
nearly 60
technology-based
special projects
in 35 different
agencies.
From 1983 to
1988, Mr. Dobrin
served as Deputy
Chief
Administrator of
the Board of
Education's
Special
Education
Division. From
1988 to 1994,
Mr. Dobrin held
the positions of
Deputy Director
for Citywide
Services and
Deputy Director
for Project
Management and
Productivity at
the Mayor's
Office of
Operations.
While serving at
the Office of
Operations, Mr.
Dobrin was
responsible for
the Office of
Information
Technology
Management,
which
coordinated the
City's
information
technology
plans. In
addition, he
designed the
City Technology
Fund. While
serving as
Deputy Director
for Project
Management and
Productivity, he
was responsible
for the
establishment of
(DoITT) and was
instrumental in
the acquisition
and installation
of the City
Access kiosks,
which are
located
throughout the
five boroughs.
Mr. Dobrin
served as Chief
of Staff to the
Deputy Mayor for
Education and
Human Services
from 1994 to
1996, where he
directed policy,
managed agency
performance, and
implemented
mayoral
initiatives in
nine different
education and
social service
agencies, with a
combined
headcount of
over 160,000
employees and
budgets totaling
more than $17
billion.
From 1996 to
1997, Mr. Dobrin
served as the
Deputy Executive
Director of
Bellevue
Hospital Center,
one of the
largest and
oldest city
hospitals in the
country, with
oversight of
Management and
Support
Services,
including
Management
Information
Systems. In this
position Mr.
Dobrin was
responsible for
a staff of more
than 1,000.
Mr. Dobrin is a
graduate of
Queens College,
with doctoral
studies in
Political
Science. He has
also served as
adjunct
professor at the
Graduate
Department of
Public
Administration
at Baruch
College.
John C. Liu
is a member
of the New York
City Council,
and is the
Chairperson of
the Council's
Transportation
Committee. He
also serves on
the committees
on Education,
Consumer
Affairs,
Contracts,
Oversight &
Investigations
and Lower
Manhattan
Redevelopment.
As Chairperson
of the Council's
Committee on
Transportation,
Liu focuses
public policy on
the critical
role
transportation
options play in
economic
development and
access to jobs.
He demands, and
has secured,
more
accountability
from the
Metropolitan
Transportation
Authority, a
behemoth agency
infamous for its
lack of
responsiveness
to the general
public. He has
enacted
legislation
improving safety
for pedestrians
and has
initiated public
works projects
to improve
vehicular
traffic flow and
ease congestion.
He has also
developed
programs
bringing yellow
taxicabs to
areas outside
Manhattan. He
also vigorously
conducts
legislative
oversight over
the Department
of
Transportation
and the Taxi and
Limousine
Commission.
Liu strongly
believes that
quality
education is key
to the future of
each of our
school kids as
well as key to
the future of
our city as
whole. As a
member of the
Council's
Committee on
Education, he
insists on
raising
standards in our
public schools,
increasing
reliance and
trust in
teachers to
teach our kids
and investing
city resources
in our future
generations. He
has also
provided
millions of
dollars to fund
high-tech
upgrades to
local schools.
Shocking as it
may be, Liu is
the first and
currently the
only Asian
Pacific American
to be elected in
New York City.
Though he wishes
Asian Pacific
Americans had
been elected
long ago, he is
honored to be
the first. As
the first, he
embraces
opportunities to
broaden
representation
and access to
government for
APAs and for all
groups who have
lacked a strong
voice in
government.
Liu attended
local public
schools and then
went on to
graduate from
the Bronx High
School of
Science and
Binghamton
University,
where he earned
a degree in
Mathematical
Physics. Prior
to serving in
the City
Council, he
worked as a
manager at the
global
consulting firm
of
PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Liu draws upon
his real world
fiscal expertise
to root out
waste and
mismanagement in
municipal
government.
Alex New
is President of
(JFK) Wen-Parker
Logistics (New
York). After
attending Hunter
College, CUNY,
Mr. New worked
for three years
in a Hongkong-based
International
freight
forwarding
company before
setting up his
own business,
Wen-Parker
Logistics, in
1997. WPL today
is a 50-million
dollar
international
logistics
company with
twelve offices
in seven Asian
countries and
four offices
here in the USA.
Brian B.
Schwartz is
currently Vice
President for
Research and
Sponsored
Programs and
co-director of
the New Media
Lab at the
Graduate Center
of the City
University of
New York (CUNY)
and Professor of
Physics at
Brooklyn
College. For the
past twelve
years he has
also been
associated with
the American
Physical Society
and was director
of the Societyís
Centennial
program in 1999,
for which he was
the producer of
an artistic wall
chart and Web
site for a
timeline
entitled A
Century of
Physics http://www.timeline.aps.org.
Support for the
timeline project
included Lucent
Technologies,
IBM, UPS, the
National Science
Foundation
(NSF), the
Department of
Energy (DOE) and
the Lounsbery
Foundation.
supported the
timeline.
Dr. Schwartz
obtained
bachelors degree
from City
College of New
York in 1959 and
his doctorate
degree from
Brown University
in 1963 under
Prof. Leon
Cooper (who won
the Nobel Prize
in Physics in
1972) with a
Ph.D. thesis on
superconductivity.
He was a
postdoctoral in
the solid-state
materials group
at Rutgers
University for
two years and
then did
research as a
faculty member
in the physics
department at
MIT and at the
MIT Francis
Bitter National
Magnet
Laboratory. At
MIT and the
Magnet
Laboratory he
had major
research grants
in the area of
magnetic and
superconducting
materials
development and
testing from the
NSF and DOE. In
1977 he was
appointed Dean
of Science, then
promoted to Vice
President for
Research and
Corporate
Affairs at
Brooklyn
College. In the
1980s he was a
founder and
President of
BioMagnetech
Corporation, a
start-up
biotechnology
company based on
the technology
of magnetic
bacteria and
their
properties. The
company licensed
its technology
to a major
pharmaceutical
corporation and
obtained
development
grants from
industry and the
government. His
current position
as Vice
President for
Research and
co-director of
the New Media
Lab includes the
coupling of City
University
faculty and
graduate student
research with
high technology
industry for
economic
development in
New York City
and elsewhere.
The newly
established CUNY
Institute for
Software Design
and Development
with outreach
programs to the
software
industry reports
directly to Dr.
Schwartz.
His research
interests
include
superconductivity,
magnetism,
education, and
the new media.
He has published
over 120
articles in
refereed
journals, edited
or co-edited 8
books, awarded 2
patents, and has
given hundreds
of talks at
meetings,
colloquia and
seminars. He has
consulted for
many high
technology
companies
including IBM,
Bell
Laboratories,
and Energy
Conversion
Devices. He
recently
completed an NSF
grant; Action
Physics for
inner-city
junior high
school teachers
based on the
physics of
sports and
movement. His
current NSF
grant is to
enhance and
expand the
career
opportunities
for Ph.D.
students in the
sciences into
the world of
commerce on Wall
Street and
Internet and
media companies
in New York
City's Silicon
Alley. His
current interest
in media
involves working
with graduate
students on
simulation and
visualization
for materials
research, the
science of urban
traffic problems
and the use of
the new media in
education.
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