Dear Fellow Alumni,

 

Let me introduce myself. I am the new president of our alumni association. I received my Ed.D. in Organization and Leadership in the middle of my career at IBM, and found my experience at Teachers College to be transformative. It seems even better as those dissertation chapter redos and bureaucratic hassles fade from my memory. I have served on the Alumni Council for six years with a great group of alums from every TC department.

 

I am following in the footsteps of Alice Wilder, who is now president emerita. Alice led alumni involvement in the transition to a new administration. She led with energy and humor that was greatly appreciated by all she touched. I’m very glad that I will have her counsel during my first year in office.

 

The new administration is now well established and is already making its mark on the prowess and reputation of the College. This past summer, your alumni association officers met with President Fuhrman and other administrators to better understand their goals and vision for TC’s future. We also analyzed alumni demographic data and held a planning session to align the work of the Alumni Council with TC’s direction and alumni wants and needs.

 

The results of that session and the follow-up activities of the Alumni Council are expected to help us better serve you and allow you to better serve TC. In a nutshell, the 35 members of the Alumni Council intend to focus our energies on providing ways to connect, or perhaps reconnect, you with the College. We established a new committee called, simply, “Alumni Wants and Needs.” The results of its work will provide the foundation for the work of the other committees. If we have your e-mail address, you are likely to hear from them in the not-too-distant future. I ask that you please respond to their overtures. We really want to make our connection with you and your connection to the college meaningful. (If we don’t have your e-mail address, please send it to tcalumni@columbia.edu.)

 

Your wants and needs will drive the activities and products of our other committees: “Programs and Resources,” “International Outreach,” and “Awards and Recognition.” Each in its own way will provide lines of connection for you.

 

In keeping with that theme, I hope that during my two years as your president, I have an opportunity to connect with you at upcoming TC alumni events and to enjoy our common bond to an institution we so admire.

 

Sincerely,

 

Robert Weintraub (Ed.D., 1998)

 

TC alumni Dedria Lacy (Ed.M., 2004) and Margarita Rosa (Ed.M., 1995) have received Education Update’s Outstanding Educator of the Year award. Rosa teaches at The IN-Tech Academy in the Bronx and Lacy at P.S. 335 Granville T. Woods School in Brooklyn.

Education Update, an award-winning publication focused on New York City education, is published by TC alumna Pola Rosen (M.A., 1973). The awards it bestows focus on New York City educators.

 

Lacey and Rosa were honored at the publication’s seventh Outstanding Educators of the Year Awards Breakfast Ceremony, at the Harvard Club in New York City. Also at the breakfast, TC President Susan Fuhrman introduced Randi Weingarten, former president of the United Federation of Teachers and now President of the American Federation of Teachers, who was receiving presented a Distinguished Leader in Education Award from Education Update.

 

And still another TC alumna, Regina Peruggi, (Ed.D., 1991) shared special Education Update honors with David Steiner, then Dean of the School of Education at Hunter and now New York State Commissioner of Education.

 

The Pension Protection Act, approved by Congress, provides for tax-free gifts to charities made directly from one’s Individual Retirement Account (IRA).

 

To take advantage of this opportunity, the following must occur:

 

• You must be 70½ or older.

 

• You transfer funds directly from an IRA or Rollover IRA with the help of your plan administrator. 401(k)s and 403(b)s are not eligible giving vehicles.

 

• The gifts are not more than $100,000 in total.

 

• You make the gift to Teachers College to establish an endowed scholarship in your name or in honor of a loved one or esteemed professor.

 

Please note that these gifts cannot be used to establish a charitable gift annuity or a charitable remainder trust, and these gifts are not eligible for a charitable deduction.

 

For more information, please visit the giving pages on our Web site at www.tc.edu/supporttc or call the office of Development and External Affairs at 212-678-3231.

Teachers College Alumni Council

 

Elaine Heffner, Co-chair

 

International Committee

 

Patrick McGuire, Chair

 

 

Program Committee

 

Michael Passow, Chair

 

 

Student Relations Committee

 

Jeffrey Putman, Chair

 

 

TC Annual Fund

 

Terri Nixon, Chair

 

 

Historian

 

Christopher Scott

 

 

Members-At-Large

 

Constance B. Green

 

Kate Moody

 

Madelon Stewart

 

Alice Wilder, Immediate Past President

 

Joyce Cowin, Trustee Representative to the Alumni Council

 

 

For more information about the Alumni Council, please visit our Web site: www.tc.edu/alumni.