062106_PresidentialStudiestrue1334586686108acckfp062106_PresidentialChairUniversity, releation, press, release, Julie, Byrne, Hartman, CatholicHofstra University's national reputation for presidential studies has been greatly enhanced through the establishment of a center to study the American presidency and the creation of an endowed chair in presidential studies, both funded by a $3.5 million gift from trustee and alumnus Peter S. Kalikow, President Stuart Rabinowitz announced today./Hofstra_Main_Site/Home/News/PressReleases/Archive/062106_PresidentialStudiesprpsdv1187357170390web2nmk1190656692234Press Release Sub TitleDr. Meena Bose named to presidential studies chairPress Release TitlePETER S. KALIKOW ENDOWS PRESIDENTIAL STUDIES CENTER AND FACULTY CHAIR WITH $3.5 MILLION GIFTPress Release Date2007/06/21Stu VincentUniversity RelationsHofstra Hall516-463-6493516-463-5146stuart.vincent@hofstra.edu//Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY - Hofstra University's national reputation for presidential studies has been greatly enhanced through the establishment of a center to study the American presidency and the creation of an endowed chair in presidential studies, both funded by a $3.5 million gift from trustee and alumnus Peter S. Kalikow, President Stuart Rabinowitz announced today.

Together with its conferences on the American presidency, the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies make Hofstra one of the very few institutions in the country with a unique focus on the presidency. Hofstra also announced that Meena Bose, Ph.D., director of American Politics at the United States Military Academy at West Point and a former Hofstra faculty member, has been named to occupy the Peter S. Kalikow Chair for Presidential Studies.

"It was Peter Kalikow's intent to use this chair and the Center in conjunction with our presidential conferences to help secure Hofstra's standing as a national center for the study of the presidency and its effect on our domestic and foreign policies, our society and our lives," said President Rabinowitz. "With the creation of the center and the selection of Dr. Bose, a nationally recognized scholar on the American presidency, for the endowed chair I am convinced we have taken a major step toward achieving that goal."

"The office of the President is the centerpiece of our democracy and studying how these 42 men have functioned in this office is of vital importance to all of us," said Mr. Kalikow. "In times of peril and in times of peace, the office of the president holds the country together. The president is the most important office for which all Americans vote, so in many ways, it is a mirror of our society."

The Center's activities will include promoting a program of continuing research on important issues relating to the American presidency; holding annual conferences and symposia devoted to analyzing critical issues regarding the American presidency by bringing together, from around the nation and the world, leading scholars, political practitioners, and journalists; sponsoring a lecture series bringing to Hofstra the most distinguished scholars on the American presidency; and inviting distinguished presidential scholars to share the fruits of their research by visiting Hofstra as scholars‑in‑residence.

The Center will allow Hofstra to build on its tradition of interdisciplinary academic conferences that examine the policies and historic implications of various administrations. Hofstra held its first presidential conference in 1982 on the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and has held academic conferences on each president in the years since. Hofstra's eleventh presidential conference: "William Jefferson Clinton: The 'New Democrat' from Hope," included a keynote address by President Clinton in which he made a vigorous defense of his presidency. Other major speakers included former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Chiefs of Staff Leon Panetta and John Podesta, and former Attorney General Janet Reno. Hundreds of scholars, journalists and policy makers from across the nation attended or took part in the conference.

Mr. Kalikow is president of H.J. Kalikow & Company, LLC, one of New York City's leading real estate firms, and chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He is also a former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and the former owner and publisher of the New York Post. In addition to serving on Hofstra's Board of Trustees, he is a governor of the Real Estate Board of New York and a trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He received a B.S. in business administration from Hofstra in 1965 and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws in 1988. Mr. Kalikow is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Fred C. Trump Outstanding Real Estate Achievement Award and the Golden Circle Award from the Associated Builders and Owners of New York, and the Peace Medal, the State of Israel's highest civilian award.

Dr. Bose has been at West Point in the Department of Social Sciences since 2001. She received her B.A. in foreign service and international politics from Penn State University in 1990; her M.A. in Politics from Princeton University in 1992; and her Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton in 1996. She was an assistant professor of political science at Hofstra from 1996-2000 and acting director of the University's Honors Program from 1999-2000.

She is the author of Shaping and Signaling Presidential Policy: The National Security Decision Making of Eisenhower and Kennedy, (Texas A&M University Press, 1998); co-editor with Mark Landis of Making the Grade: The Uses and Abuses of Presidential Ratings (Nova Science Publishers, 2003) (proceedings from Hofstra's 200 symposium, "The Leadership Difference: Rating the Presidents; and co-editor with Rosanna Perotti of The Foreign Policy World of George Bush (Greenwood Press, 2002) (proceedings from Hofstra's 1997 conference on the Bush Presidency). She has also written numerous articles on the American presidency and American presidents. Dr. Bose also is the co-editor with John J. DiIulio of the upcoming Classic Ideas and Current Issues in American Government (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007), an introductory American politics course reader to accompany James Q. Wilson and John J. DiIulio's American Government: Institutions and Policies (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006).

During the 2004 presidential election she appeared as a commentator on CNN, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the BBC's The World feature Presidential Campaigns in Wartime; and The Charlie Rose Show. 

Hofstra University is a dynamic, private University offering more than 140 undergraduate and 150 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communications, education and allied human services and honors studies, as well as a School of Law.  With a diverse mix of students, Hofstra University's vibrant campus hosts a wide selection of cultural, social, athletic and recreational activities, providing students with the full college experience.  Hofstra offers students the opportunity to live and learn on our beautiful 240-acre Long Island campus, just 45 minutes from New York City's cultural and career opportunities.

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