Professor Benjamin Goldfrank, Ph.D. Joins the Buccino Leadership Institute
Thursday, September 29, 2022
As one of the co-directors for the Diplomacy cohort he will be responsible for meeting with the Diplomacy students regularly and organizing their speaker series. He has already lined up some fantastic alumni to introduce his students to. Additionally, he will work with third- and especially fourth-year Diplomacy students on their group and individual projects.
When asked about his main goals as co-director, Goldfrank stated that "my main goals are to listen to and learn from the experiences of Dean Halpin and our students and then see where I can make a positive contribution. My research has focused more on horizontal participatory decision-making than on traditional forms of top-down leadership. If the cohort is interested in learning about these kinds of civic engagement processes, I'd be delighted to make that a future priority."
Goldfrank has been with the School of Diplomacy and International Relations since 2007. His main area of expertise is in comparative analysis of Latin American politics, experiments in participatory democracy, and political parties. He has taught courses focused on Latin American politics and U.S. foreign policy. Adored by his students, he was bestowed both the Salgo-Noren School of Diplomacy's Teacher of the Year award and Seton Hall’s At-Large Teacher of the Year award in 2016.
When Dean Halpin was called to serve as the Buccino Institute's Acting Director for the leadership program, the Diplomacy School sought someone to assist her with their cohort. When this position opened, Goldfrank gladly took this opportunity to join the Buccino Leadership Institute staff. Prior to joining the institute, he did not know much about the program besides its reputation for repeatedly winning awards for its curriculum. And, of course, he knew Michael Reuter, the Director Emeritus and Interim Executive Director, whom Goldfrank met shortly after arriving at Seton Hall.
The institute is extremely excited to welcome Goldfrank to our staff, and we cannot wait to see his work within the Diplomacy and International Relations cohort.
