Beth Cobert Takes New Position as OMB's Deputy Director for Management

After 29 years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, Beth Cobert has assumed her new position as deputy director for management at the federal Office of Management and Budget. The Senate approved her nomination in mid-October. According to Federal News Radio,

She will lead President Obama's second-term management agenda, which is focused on four pillars: efficiency, effectiveness, people, and economy.

John Wetmore Quoted in Article on Millennials' Driving Distinterest

John Wetmore was featured in an article in the Deseret News on October 25, 2013 titled, "Empty Roads: Car Love Fades as Millennials' Values Change." The article examines the reasons and the impact of lack of interest in driving on the part of millennials, the generation born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.

The author turned to Wetmore, the long-time producer of the public-access program Perils for Pedestrians, for his views on the significant community-planning aspect of the car-shunning generation. Wetmore said,

"People are a lot more interested in having transportation choices than they were a couple of decades ago," he says. 

Companies are trying to attract millennials by locating in walkable urban areas, instead of fancy suburban high-tech parks, which has long been the trend.

"When people are passing each other on the sidewalk," he says, "there is serendipitous interaction that you don't have when driving by each other."

Sylvia Hurtado Speaks at Diversity Conference

Sylvia Hurtado, a professor at UCLA and director of its Higher Education Research Institute, was the opening speaker on October 21 of the Diversity Forum at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. An article in the Daily Cardinal newspaper said,

Hurtado outlined her model for creating diverse learning environments and emphasized the need of recognizing different factors that influence the campus climate.

The first of these dimensions relates to the group’s history of inclusion or exclusion within the campus community. Hurtado added the campus community must ask “who’s at the table?” to ensure all groups are being fairly represented.

“Diversity is a resource, it’s not a problem,” she said. “Inequity is the problem.”

Jill Pilgrim Merges Sports-Law Practice Into Buckner Firm

Jill Pilgrim has merged her sports-law practice into another law firm, now called Buckner. She will serve as senior counsel at Buckner on issues relating to sports law, higher education law and corporate and contracts law. A recent Buckner press release explains

Sports attorney Michael L. Buckner has rebranded, expanded and relaunched his sports law practice formerly known as the Michael L. Buckner Law Firm under the new singular name of Buckner. As part of the expansion, his firm has merged with Pilgrim & Associates’ sports law practice, added several veteran attorneys to the firm and formed an affiliation with Precise Advisory Group for client consulting services. Along with the new brand identity, the firm has launched a new website, www.bucknersportslaw.com.
 Jill Pilgrim, Lori Williams and Claire Zovko are the newest additions to the Buckner roster of attorneys. Pilgrim is senior counsel on issues relating to sports law, higher-education law and corporate and contracts law; Williams is senior counsel on issues relating to intercollegiate athletics, risk management and higher education law; and Zovko is of-counsel on issues relating to sports law, intercollegiate athletics and higher-education law.

Duane McWaine Explains Princeton to Kiwis

U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand David Huebner '82, a passionate advocate of social media in diplomacy, writes a series about U.S. educational institutions on the US. Embassy's website. In his latest installment, he turns to page over to his spouse Dr. Duane McWaine '80, to take a long, detailed, gloriously illustrated look at Princeton University (complete with a nice plug and picture of Colonial Club. McWaine starts his tour of the University like this:

Thank you, Ambassador! Like many Princeton University alumni, I have been back to campus in beautiful Princeton, New Jersey several times in the years since I graduated, including twice this year alone. Each time I go back I’m amazed at what’s changed and heartened by what remains the same.

McWaine's ranges across Princeton's history, academics, student resources, alumni, eating clubs, Triangle Club, the P-Rade, athletics and his own experiences as an undergraduate. It's well worth reading.

Bernardo Ferdman Co-Edits New Book, "Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion"

Bernardo Ferdman has a website devoted to his upcoming book, Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion, to be published in November by Jossey Bass/Wiley in the the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Professional Practice Series. The book's content includes:

topic experts ranging from internal and external change agents to academics present detailed solutions for the challenge of inclusion—how to fully connect with, engage, and empower people across all types of
differences.

The editors and chapter authors translate theories and research on diversity into the applied practice of inclusion. Readers will learn about the critical issues involved in framing, designing, and implementing inclusion initiatives in organizations and supporting individuals to develop competencies for inclusion.

The authors' diverse voices combine to provide an innovative and expansive model of the practice of inclusion at the individual, group, and organizational levels. Case studies and illustrations show how diversity and inclusion operate in a variety of settings, effectively highlighting the practices needed to benefit from diversity.

Ferdman is Professor of Organizational Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University in San Diego, California, and a leadership and organization development consultant with almost three decades of experience. Ferdman—a SIOP Fellow, past Chair of the Academy of Management's Diversity and Inclusion Theme Committee and of AOM's Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division—consults, writes, speaks, teaches, and conducts research on diversity and inclusion, multicultural leadership, Latinos & Latinas in the workplace, and bringing one’s whole self to work.