The City University of New York has scored big yet again: It announced this week that it has roped in a marquee name as a visiting professor at its Macaulay Honors College: David Petraeus.
A key nonprofit group, American Corporate Partners — which helps vets transition to civilian jobs — also struck gold last month when Petraeus joined its advisory council.
As any observer of Operation Iraqi Freedom knows, the general led the surge that helped end the Iraq war. He then headed US Central Command and later took over military operations in Afghanistan. In 2011, he retired from the Army, and briefly headed the CIA, though his tenure there ended in an unfortunate personal scandal.
The West Pointer, who boasts a PhD in international relations from Princeton, was wooed by several universities. That CUNY’s Matthew Goldstein managed to lock him in is icing on the cake for the chancellor, who’s retiring this year after a 14-year tenure, during which he restored the school’s reputation to its former glory.
Petraeus will bring to academe a leader whose expertise and military links will prove invaluable well beyond the immediate CUNY community.
He will likewise be a bridge between the military and corporate worlds via his work mentoring vets looking to begin new careers in business.
New York is lucky to have him.