Levin Graduate Institute Names Denis Fred Simon as Founding Provost

New York City--- Garrick Utley, President of the Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce of The State University of New York, today announced the appointment of Denis Fred Simon as founding Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs. Simon currently is Dean of the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

“I am very pleased that Dr. Simon will be joining the Levin Graduate Institute to build our academic program as we shape the Institute’s future," Utley said. “Denis Simon’s unique set of skills, interdisciplinary training, and overseas experience fits well with the Institute’s mission of integrating management and business studies with international relations as we prepare students for careers and lives in the international arena, be they in the private, public or non-profit sectors.”

Denis Simon holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. in Asian Studies from SUNY New Paltz. He has taught at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. From 1995-2002, Simon worked in the private sector (strategic management consulting), including senior positions at Anderson Consulting (Beijing) and Monitor Group (China Ltd.) before taking up his position at RPI. He also has served as a policy consultant to the World Bank, United Nations, National Academy of Sciences, and the Office of Technology Assessment under the US Congress.

Dr. Simon is a member of the Board of Directors of the US-Israel Science and Technology Foundation as well as a member of the National Science Foundation's Advisory Council on US-China Cooperation in Science, Policy, Research and Education. An internationally recognized authority on China and the social, political and economic impact of new technologies, Simon speaks Mandarin Chinese.

“The opportunity to develop and implement an entirely new academic curriculum at the Levin Graduate Institute offers a unique opportunity," Simon said. “Given the challenges faced by all types of organizations in this era of continuing globalization and rapid technological change, it is clear that programs in management and international affairs need to move beyond the existing pedagogy. Our mission at Levin will be to re-define how we can better prepare students and train working professionals to meet the increasingly complex demands of the 21st century workplace.”

As chief academic officer, Dr. Simon will be responsible for designing and building the Levin Graduate Institute’s curricula and recruiting faculty. In addition to a Masters degree program, the Institute will offer a range of executive-education and certificate courses integrating management/business with international affairs. The Institute, created by SUNY’s Board of Trustees, is located in Manhattan.

Denis Simon will take up his new duties on July 1, 2004. He is married to Fredda Sharon Simon and they have two children (Melissa, age 22- B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, 2004, and Mitchell, age 19—sophomore at Denison University).

Simon’s appointment follows the decision of the SUNY Board of Trustees in October, 2003 to appoint Utley, the former broadcast journalist and international affairs analyst, to be the Institute’s President. The Institute plans to acquire a permanent home in Manhattan this year and to begin offering academic programs in 2005.

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States educating more than 410,000 students in 6,650 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses.