The range of positions held by our alumni attests to the versatility of a political science degree. Some alumni are executive directors of non-profit organizations, partners in law firms, CEO’s of large corporations, and even elected officials. One of our alumna was a MacArthur Genius Grant winner in 2017. Despite this range, one pursuit that unites most of our alumni is public service: they are determined to give back to their communities and leave the world better than they found it.
Emily Kate Abrams ‘2019 PSCI, English and American Studies; graduated summa cum laude from the Macaulay Honors Program; President of the Political Science Club while at QC; three years as paralegal at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, before pursuing J.D. at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; will serve as Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office after graduation in May 2025.
Gary Leonard Ackerman ’65 PSCI; born in Brooklyn and raised in Flushing, with immigrant grandparents from Russia and Poland; U.S. Representative from New York (1983 – 2013); member of NY State Senate (1979 – 1983); founder, editor and publisher of The Queens Tribune. First job after college: high school teacher for social studies, math and journalism in Queens.
Witold Balaban ‘1990 PSCI; born in Poland whose mother was a leader of the Solidarity trade union; transferred to Queens College from Poland in 1988 and delivered the main address at QC Commencement two years later; partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins and leading advisor for global financial institutions on financing strategies, equity markets and financial products; former global Co-chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions Industry Group and the firm’s Capital Markets Practice.
Zoy Balaskas PSCI and Philosophy 1995; JD, NYU School of Law 1998 and LLM 2003; Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Counsel of Commonwealth Land Title’s New York National Commercial Services operations since 2019; Senior Underwriting Counsel at First American Title Insurance Company – National Commercial Services (2005-19); in-house attorney for mortgage bank (2003-05); and an associate in a number of firms after law school.
Carlsky Belizaire ‘15 PSCI; native of Queens with Haitian immigrant parents; Macaulay Honors College/QC and M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University; career diplomat in the US Department of State; currently Cultural Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua; previously a Public Diplomacy Officer at U.S. Embassy Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and Consular Officer at U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou, China. Prior to the U.S. State Department, a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan. Carlsky speaks Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, and some Mandarin Chinese.
Anita Bernstein ‘81, PSCI; native of Rockaway, NY; Anita and Stuart Subotnick Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School; formerly the Sam Nunn Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law, the Wallace Stevens Professor of Law at New York Law School, and Norman & Edna Freehling Scholar and Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law; nationally recognized authority on tort law, feminist jurisprudence and legal ethics; recipient of several top awards in her academic field. Following law school at Yale, clerked in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and practiced in a private law firm.
Barry M. Blechman ‘63 PSCI; native of Queens; co-founder and Distinguished Fellow of the Stimson Center; chairman of Stimson’s Board (1989-2007 and 2014-); founder of DFI International Inc., a DC based research consultancy and its CEO (1984-2007); fifty years of distinguished service in national security in public and private sectors, including the Departments of State and Defense, the Office of Management & Budget, and the US Arms Control & Disarmament Agency as its assistant director during the Carter administration; served on government study groups and commissions on national security and diplomacy; and author of numerous books on national security.
Brian G. Buckmire PSCI 2011; Washington and Lee University School of Law, 2014; former NYC public defender in the Criminal Defense Practice and Homicide Defense Task Force of the Legal Aid Society, where he represented indigent clients in Brooklyn, NY; currently, trial counsel for Hamilton Clarke LLP, where he represents clients in federal civil rights and federal criminal cases; an ABC legal contributor appearing on GMA, ABC News Live, Nightline, and GMA3’s “Better Call Brian,” as well as a legal analyst on the Law & Crime Network and a host on CBS Sports Golazo.
Bruce Bueno De Mesquita ‘67 PSCI; Julius Silver Professor of Politics at New York University, and a Senior Fellow Emeritus at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution; Director of NYU’s Center for Conflict Resolution and Multilateral Cooperation; co-founder of Selectors, LLC, a New York-based consulting firm which has advised the U.S. Government, Fortune 500 companies and other clients; his forecasting model is a great contribution to the study of political events using forecasting methods.
Jeremy Chill PSCI 2015; Harvard University Law School 2021 and an editor of the Harvard Business Law Review; Investment Funds Associate at Ropes & Gray LLP since 2025; Managing Associate at Sidney Austin LLP (2021-25); legal assistant, judicial intern and paralegal as well as other jobs before current position.
Costa Constantinides ‘05 PSCI and History; native of Astoria, Queens; Chief Executive Officer, Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens (2021 – Present); first elected to the City Council in 2013 with over 65% of the vote, becoming the first Greek-Cypriot-American elected to public office in NYC; re-elected for a second term in 2017 with over 93% of the vote. Jobs before elected office: legislative director, NYC Council, deputy chief of staff for Councilman James Gennaro, and store manager of KB Toy Stores.
Lorraine Coyle ’72 PSCI; lived three blocks from Queens College when deciding where to attend college; owner of private practice in trust & estates, wills and probate etc.; “Queens College was the steppingstone to a great career in law,” says Lorraine. A night student at QC, she bequests in her will a scholarship far into the future to benefit QC students who hold down jobs while attending classes at night. First job after college: secretary to a legislative aide in Albany; after School of Law at St. John’s University: Wall Street law firm and #2 in NYS when taking her bar exam; worked as a taxi driver in last year of law school to pay bills.
Joseph Crowley ’85 PSCI and Communications; native of Woodside, Queens, with one immigrant parent from Northern Island; U.S. Representative from New York’s 7th congressional district (1999-2019); Chair of the House Democratic Caucus (2017-2019); local chairman of the Queens County Democratic Party (2006-2019); and NY State Assembly member (1987 -1998); currently working for the law firm Dentons.
Andrea Shapiro Davis PSCI 1981, Hofstra Law School 1984; started her career as Assistant DA at the Queens County DA’s Office and then the Appeals Bureau; joined & quit private practice (after a heroic fight with sexual harassment); Director of Development & External Relations at CUNY Law School for a decade; Director of the Office of Appointments for Mayor Bloomberg, Special Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg & Executive Director of the NYC Commission on Women’s Issues under him; Associate Vice Chancellor for Corporate, Foundation & Major Gift Development at CUNY; & currently, Senior Advisor to Mayor Eric Adams & Director of Public Service Engagement in NYC.
Allan H. Dobrin PSCI; executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer of CUNY(2001-16); commissioner of the NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and chief information officer for NYC (1998 to 2001); deputy executive director of Bellevue Hospital Center (1996-97); chief of staff to the Deputy Mayor for Education and Human Services (1994-1996); deputy executive director at the Mayor’s Office of Operation (1988-94); deputy chief administrator of the Board of Education’s Special Education Division (1983 to 1988).
Safiya Edwards, ESQ PSCI 2012, Summa Cum Laude; Howard University School of Law, 2017; currently Juvenile Delinquency Prosecutor/Major Case Unit and Assistant Corporation Counsel, New York City Law Department; two years as intern as New York State Supreme Court after college; numerous awards and active member of the Model United Nations while at Queens College.
Adriano Espaillat ’78 PSCI; relocated to the US with family at age ten in 1964 and raised in Washington Heights; U.S. Representative from New York’s 13th congressional district (2017-present); member of the NY State Senate and NY State Assembly (2011-2016); the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in U.S. Congress.
Patrick C. Finnegan PSCI 1990; JD Fordham Law School, 1995. Born in Arizona, earned BA in biochemistry and microbiology, and a post-graduate diploma in computer systems analysis in Ireland before returning to the US for his BA at Queens College; joined prominent law firm in NYC (1996-2003) before moving to the law firm Helmsing Leach in Alabama; specializes in complex litigation; also a federal criminal defense lawyer with wide experiences in white collar crime and internal investigations.
Ester Fuchs ’72 PSCI; native of Bayside, Queens; Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs; Special Advisor to the Mayor for Governance and Strategic Planning under New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (2001 to 2005); currently Director of WhosOnTheBallot.org, an online platform working to increase voter participation and education in New York City elections; recipient of the Distinguished Alumna Award from Queens College.
Helen W. Gillmor ’65 PSCI; native of Syracuse, NY; nominated in 1994 by President Clinton as a district judge of the U.S. District Court of the District of Hawaii and confirmed by the US Senate, assuming senior status since 2009; a deputy public defender of the Honolulu Office of the Public Defender (1972 – 1974); a district court judge of the Hawaii State Family Court, First Circuit (1977 -1983), and of the District Court of Hawaii for the same circuit (1983 – 1985).
Andrew Hevesi ’08 PSCI; Queens native; member of NY State Assembly representing the 28th Assembly District (2005-); chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Children and Families (2021-present); Chairman of the Assembly Social Services Committee (2015-2020); Chairman of the Committee on Oversight, Analysis, and Investigation (2011-2015); formerly Chief of Staff to former member of the NY State Assembly member, Director of Community Affairs for the NYC Public Advocate and staff member in the Domestic Violence Bureau of the Queens County District Attorney’s Office; awarded Queens Power 100 (City & State NY LLC) (March 2024).
Matt Higgins ’98 PSCI; born in Flushing and raised by single mother in a working-class neighborhood in Bayside; CEO of RSE Ventures, an incubator and investment firm; Vice Chairman of the Miami Dolphins (2012-2021); executive VP of the New York Jets (2004-2012); COO of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the firm tasked with rebuilding the site of the World Trade Center; named to the “40 Under 40” list of top sports executives in Sports Business Journal in 2011; guest shark on the TV show “Shark Tank” on seasons 10 and 11. While in college, Higgins wrote a column for the Queens Tribune, garnering several New York Press Association awards and a Pulitzer Prize nomination; a profile of him in the Daily News led to hiring by the Mayor’s office and the youngest press secretary in New York City history, managing global media responses to the September 11 attack for the city; delivered the commencement address at Queens College in 2019; established the Linda Higgins Empowerment Scholarship at QC to help support single parents in obtaining college degrees, in honor of his late mother.
Jacob Hochberg ‘16 PSCI; native of Seattle, WA; since graduation, moving up the legislative career ladder in the US House of Representatives: Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (2024 – ); Associate Staff, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security (2023-24); Chief of Staff to Congressman Henry Cuellar (2021-23); Legislative Director to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (2019-21); junior legislative positions (2016-19) in the office of Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, who represents NY-07. Earned MA degree at American University while working in Congress (2016-18). On the baseball team while at QC.
Maim Hoque ‘21 PSCI: born and raised in Queens to Bangladeshi immigrants. Senior Business Transformation Consultant at IBM (2024 – Present); M.S. in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University (’24) and M.A. in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research from Queens College (’22). First job after college: AmeriCorps VISTA at the NYC Department of Education.
Jeff Isaac ‘79 PSCI; James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington; Editor in Chief of Perspectives on Politics, a flagship journal of the American Political Science Association (2009-2017); awarded APSA’s Frank J. Goodnow Award for Distinguished Public Service to the profession (2017); author of five books and over 100 articles and essays; and editor of two anthologies.
Christina Jimenez ’07 PSCI; growing up undocumented in Queens, she migrated with her family to the U.S from Ecuador in 1998; community organizer, political strategist, & leading voice in social justice movements; Co-Founder & former Executive Director of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the US; instrumental in its successful campaign for President Obama to sign DACA into law; currently a Distinguished Lecturer with CCNY’s Colin Powell School & a co-instructor with Leadership for Democracy & Social Justice; recipient of 2017 MacArthur Fellowship, the Four Freedoms Award, & a spot on the 2018 TIME 100 Most Influential People List; appearances in hundreds of national & local media outlets.
Yolanda B. Jimenez ‘QC PSCI (BA and MA); immigrated to the U.S. as a child from Colombia; Executive Director, Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation (2014 – 2019); Commissioner, Mayor Bloomberg’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence (2002-2014); Deputy Police Commissioner Community Affairs New York City Police Department (1996-2001). Summer internship working for Mayor Ed Koch motivated Jimenez that she should pursue a professional career in social service.