external funding - The City College of New York - CUNY

“Not only has theSchool regained thepinnacle which Iremember as a student.I think that it iseven better than itwas.”Jack Feinstein ’65 EE: A Tireless Booster of his AlmaMater“Without the opportunities which Brooklyn Technical High School and City College gave me, I wouldnever have achieved what I have,” says Jack Feinstein. “The education I received was excellent,and it was free.”Mr. Feinstein’s BS in Electrical Engineering from CCNY was the springboard for his distinguishedcareer at Con Edison. He joined the company in 1967 as an assistant engineer and set himself thegoal of becoming an officer. He achieved this in 1991, when he was elected vice-president.At that point, Mr. Feinstein, who became Chairman of the Grove School Leadership AdvisoryCouncil in November 2009, began to think seriously of giving back to his alma mater. “That iswhen I joined the School of Engineering’s Industry Advisory Board,” he says. “Those were prettydark days when the School seemed more like a stepchild of the University than the flagship it hadonce been. I am happy to say that today, when I look at the School, things could not be more different.Thanks to Dean Barba, President Williams and Andy Grove’s gift, the School is transformed.Not only has it regained the pinnacle which I remember as a student. I think that it is evenbetter than it was.”Not long after joining the Advisory Board, Mr. Feinstein met Professor Ali Sadegh of theMechanical Engineering Department. Dr. Sadegh ran a Senior Project program inwhich he wanted his ME students to tackle real-world problems, and he wondered ifCon Edison could help. That was a partnership which Mr. Feinstein was happy to facilitate.“The students in this program are fantastic. I think that they are smarter than wewere,” says Mr. Feinstein. “The staff at Con Edison is thrilled with the work they do.”Mr. Feinstein has been so gratified by the results, that he has worked with CCNY to setup an endowment for Dr. Sadegh’s program.When Mr. Feinstein retired from Con Edison n 1998, he was in charge of System andTransmission Operations with responsibility for the integrity of the electric bulk powersupply. At Con Edison, he made safety his focus, developing a program to change theorganizational culture by emphasizing safety as an overarching theme for employeeperformance. During his tenure, he served on the New York Independent SystemOperator Transition Steering Committee, which was directing the implementation of therestructuring of the wholesale power and energy market in New York State. Today, heis putting his vast experience to use, providing consulting services to companies doingbusiness in the electric power industry.8