Category: Speaker Announcements (Page 10 of 30)

Darien School Safety and Security

Darien Public Schools Director of Security, Leon Krolikowski, will discuss how the Darien School District is embracing best practices in school safety and security. The talk will include discussions about the district’s armed school security officers (SSOs), campus monitors, training, accreditation, best practices, and related initiatives that will enhance the district’s safety and security.

Leon Krolikowski has been the Darien Public Schools Director of Security since January 9, 2023. Before coming to Darien, Leon was a member of the New Canaan Police Department for over 34 years. Before becoming Chief in June 2013, he served in many different Department roles and ranks of increasing responsibility.

While working full-time, Leon earned an M.B.A., a law degree, completed an executive education course at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and began coursework towards a Ph.D. He is admitted to practice law in the States of Connecticut and New York, Connecticut Federal Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the United States Tax Court. Leon is a graduate of the F.B.I. National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and he is a Marine Corps Infantry Combat Veteran.

Leon has lived in New Canaan for over 32 years. He has been married to his wife, Anna, for 29 years and has three children, Morgan, Kelsey, and Ryan.

Speaker Summary

Darien School Security Director Leon Krolikowsi provided a comprehensive review of the history, current program, and some of the future initiatives for the Darien Public School Security Program. He explained that the focus is on prevention and mitigation to minimize risk and the likelihood of issues and emergencies requiring a response by his team, while ensuring they are trained and prepared should the need arise.

Leon talked about the roles of the 3 groups currently providing support and safety at the Darien schools: Campus Monitors, School Resource Officers at Darien High School and Middlesex Middle School (active uniformed members of the Darien Police Department) and the armed elementary school SSO’s (School Safety Officers, all retired former police officers). He then detailed the screening, hiring and training of the SSO’s, their specific roles and responsibilities and their day-to-day activities and reporting relationships within the schools.

He also talked to the importance of the SSO’s as it relates to response time in the unlikely case of an incident in a school and how an on-site officer dramatically reduces the risk by discouraging would-be attackers and/or shortening the response time from a few/several minutes to as little as seconds. He shared notable examples from across the country and how depending primarily on outside resources like the local police department resulted in response times of as long as 77 minutes or, in even the best case, 6 minutes. In all cases there was a loss of lives and substantial injuries that having a trained officer committed to action on-site might have reduced.

Leon also explained the ongoing work being done through desktop planning and exercises to better prepare the SSO’s and school staff to handle a broad range of scenarios and talked about testing and development of new approaches and technologies to improve school safety and reduce risk. He also talked about Darien being the first K-12 public school system in the country to be pursuing the highest level of safety accreditation.

His presentation was followed by a short Q&A.  His most emphatic answer was to the question of whether arming teachers to deal with potential emergencies was a good idea.  His response was “No. No. No.” due to the risks of someone having a gun without the experience and training to truly know when to use it.

The clear takeaway of Leon’s talk was Darien’s commitment and progress towards offering a best-in-class school safety program to protect the town’s most valuable asset – its children.

Video Presentation

It’s Complicated:  The Decision Around Dropping the Atomic Bombs on Japan.

Ted Aldrich will be speaking about all the factors that went into the decision by President Harry Truman to drop atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945 and, to a lesser extent, about some of the key figures who influenced the decision. In his 2022 book, The Partnership, Aldrich devoted a chapter to the discussions that took place between members of the High Command about how to end the war in Japan. Since publication of his book last year, he has been invited twice by Colgate University to lecture to a class studying all aspects of the atomic bomb. This past spring, Aldrich served on a panel with historian Evan Thomas and journalist/author Barbara Slavin at the Stimson Center in Washington D.C. which was devoted to addressing the reasons for using the atomic bomb on Japan.

DMA members can expect to hear about all the misconceptions regarding the decision that have emerged over the years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He will attempt to take the audience back in time to July 1945 and firmly in the shoes of those saddled with the terrific responsibility of ending a War that had already killed approximately 420,000 Americans and wounded another 670,000.

Edward “Ted” Aldrich was born and raised in Rowayton, Connecticut. He attended Colgate University majoring in economics and political science before receiving an MBA in finance from Boston College. He then began a career in banking with UBS in New York.  He spent thirteen years with UBS working in New York, Zurich, and London specializing principally in commodities. Aldrich held senior positions at Deutsche Bank and Fortis before launching a trade and commodity finance business at Mizuho Bank, a business he ran for eleven years. Aldrich currently works as the head of corporate development for Auramet Trading, one of the world’s largest physical precious metals merchants in the world.

Aldrich’s love of history began on the day he entered the 2^nd grade at Rowayton Elementary School and saw portraits of all the U.S. presidents on the wall of his classroom. Since that day one of his primary hobbies has been the study of history. Today, he has a library of nearly 700 books, most of which he read during his thirty plus years of commuting by train back and forth from Connecticut to Manhattan. His first book, The Partnership: George Marshall, Henry Stimson, and the Extraordinary Collaboration that Won World War II (published last year) was written on his commute over a seven-year period (Aldrich spoke to the DMA about The Partnership last May and is still on a book tour).

Aldrich and his wife Susan Scull Aldrich (a Darien native and daughter of DMA member Pete Scull) have lived in Westport since 1999 where they raised three sons. Along with history, Aldrich’s main interests are soccer (he played four years at Colgate and still plays in a Westport men’s league), piano, and gardening (his wife is a prominent landscape designer who designs landscapes from Greenwich to Fairfield).

Speaker arranged by Charles Salmans

Speaker Summary

Ted Aldrich provided a compelling review of the background, issues and factors that went into the decision to drop 2 atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945 that ultimately led to surrender by Japan. He took us through the timeline for both the development of the bomb and the rapid progression from the formation of a committee in May 1945 to decide what to do once the bomb was finalized until the bombs were dropped on August 6 and 9, 1945.

Noteworthy was the fact that President Truman didn’t even know the bomb project existed when he was sworn in on April 12, 1945, yet the decision was made to drop the bomb 3 months later. Ted took us through the steps that occurred between these dates, the key players in the process (with a focus on Henry Stimson and George Marshall, the subjects of Ted’s book, “The Partnership”), and the factors that led to the decision to use the atomic bomb.  While there were many factors (some quite ancillary), the greatest of these was: the need to put an end to the war; the belief that more US (and, ultimately, Japanese) lives would be saved by a rapid end to the war;  and, that anything short of showing the Japanese the destruction they would endure in the face of this new weapon would not bring about an end to the war based on Japan’s until-that-point’s demonstration that they would never surrender despite the losses that they had already endured. To prove his point, Ted shared that, even after the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, there was a 3-3 deadlock among Japanese leaders as to whether they should surrender.

All-in-all, an insightful, engaging presentation and Q&A on what was one of the most critical, and afterwards controversial, decisions in the history of warfare. Ted also made the clear point that, at the time, there was actually little controversy and broad support for the decision to drop the bombs and that, in his opinion, it was the right decision and likely saved millions of US and Japanese lives despite the loss of life from the bombs.

Video Presentation 

Bob Heussler is a veteran radio and television sportscaster with over 35-years of experience working in New York and Connecticut. He was an update anchor for the country’s first all-sports radio station – New York City’s WFAN – for 30 years and remains with the station on a part-time basis. Heussler has a long association with the Fairfield University men’s basketball program as their radio and television play-by-play announcer, recently completing his 35^th season with the Stags. Heussler was the radio and television play-by-play announcer of the WNBA’S Connecticut Sun for 17 years, beginning with their inaugural season in 2003.   He remains a back-up play-by-play radio announcer for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. Heussler was a sportscaster for the Connecticut Radio Network for over 15 years, serving as the radio play-by-play announcer for UConn basketball and football and providing coverage of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament and PGA Greater Hartford Open. He is a former network anchor for ESPN Radio and remains an anchor with the CBS Sports Radio Network on a part-time basis. Heussler is a former sports director at WICC in Bridgeport, has been an instructor of student broadcasters at Yale and Fairfield and was the longtime director of public relations at Milford Jai-Alai. A graduate of the University of Bridgeport, Heussler currently resides in Stamford.

Speaker Summary

Long-time sports announcer Bob Heussler took us through a tour of the history of the development and evolution of sports radio, with a focus on the New York sports market and its biggest and, in his opinion, best broadcasters and personalities.

A life-long Mets fan, Bob got his passion for radio from his mother and turned it into a career that encompassed announcing games for college and professional sports teams in the New York area as well as providing sports updates on the original sports talk radio station, WFAN, including a stint with the revolutionary team of Mike & The Mad Dog.

Bob started with a history of how the print medium dominated sports reporting before radio became a primary vehicle for sports coverage. He talked about early radio pioneers and how they influenced those who came after them and notable broadcasters who have been associated with New York sports teams. He shared the progression from sports announcers to sports personalities to broadcast teams. Bob paid special homage to 2 of the stars of NY sportscasting, Marty Glickman and Marv Albert, and what made them special and how they influenced the next generation of NY sports voices. To emphasize his points, Bob shared audio clips of famous moments in New York sports history and of key voices of sports in New York.

Bob then talked about the rise of “sports talk” radio, including some of the early stars in New York who had programs on radio stations that also provided news, music, etc.  He then detailed how WFAN created 24-hour sports radio despite initial poor performance and how it was saved thanks to Don Imus and the creation of the legendary team of Mike Francesa and Chris Russo (Mike and the Mad Dog) who redefined sports talk radio and became the blueprint for so many other radio and TV talk shows that are about sports debates and “hot takes”.  He also noted that they have been imitated but never matched.

Bob shared his personal list of New York’s five most impactful sportscasters: Marv Albert, Mike and the Mad Dog, Marty Glickman, Mel Allen, and Bill Mazer. He then closed with a few thoughts on some other New York sports voices that were important and needed to be acknowledged.

An engaging Q&A session followed including suggestions of other great voices in other markets and how current trends (e.g., corporate sponsorships and sports betting) have impacted the state of current sports broadcasting.

Hamilton “Tony” James will join us in conversation with DMA member John Craft to discuss the Federal Reserve’s policies on interest rates and inflation, the current banking crisis, the outlook for private equity and venture capital investing, the real estate markets, prospects for future investments in China, and the effects of COVID, the war in Ukraine and the emerging Cold War with China on the U.S. economy, international trade, supply chains, and global investments.

Tony is an internationally recognized investor and leader in global finance, having served for many years as president and chief operating officer of The Blackstone Group, the world’s largest alternative asset manager with approximately $1 trillion in assets under management. In that role, he oversaw businesses and operations in all major countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Tony currently is chairman of Jefferson River Capital, a private investment group. He also serves as the chairman of the board of Costco Wholesale Corp., the world’s second largest retailer, co-chair of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, vice chairman of The Wildlife Conservation Society, chairman of the finance committee of Mount Sinai Hospital System, and chairman and co-founder of The Partnership for Education Advancement, which provides critical infrastructure support to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, serving over 40% of all HBCU students. He was also appointed by President Joe Biden to be a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

Tony has also served and continues to serve on numerous other charitable, corporate, and public sector boards. He co-authored Rescuing Retirement: A Plan to Guarantee Retirement Security for All Americans, a book proposing a solution to America’s looming retirement crisis, and has published articles in The Wall Street Journal and other major publications. Tony graduated from Harvard College Magna Cum Laude as a John Harvard Scholar and from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar.

John Craft graduated from Princeton University and the Wharton School (MBA). He spent 20 years in the institutional fixed income business with Bankers Trust and Merrill Lynch, and subsequently co-founded a technology start-up that developed internet-based applications for the bond market.

DMA member Bert von Stuelpnagel will speak about the Marshall Plan and its effect on West Germany. This important initiative of the Truman administration, led by Secretary of State George C. Marshall, made America a “European Power,” and its impact can still be felt today, especially in Germany. In 1953, Marshall was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of the economic rehabilitation of Europe after the war.

Of the 17 countries that benefited from the European Recovery Program, none was more fortunate to receive financial aid than the former enemy of the Allies. For Germany, the ERP stands for reentry into the Family of Nations, the beginning of the Social Market Economy, membership in the European organizations which soon followed, and the lasting economic progress of the Wirtschaftswunder (Economic Miracle). The currency reform and the Berlin Airlift of 1948, the outbreak of the Cold War and the descent of the Iron Curtain make this perhaps the most pivotal moment of the 20^th Century. Throw into the mix the foundation of NATO in 1949 and Germany’s admittance to NATO in 1955, only 10 years after Hitler, and you can draw lessons from that time that may help you to understand current events. Accordingly, Bert thinks that now, at its 75^th anniversary, the Marshall Plan is well worth an examination by the DMA.

Bert von Stuelpnagel was born in Freiburg, Germany, on March 6, 1950 and graduated from Bad Toelz High School in 1969. After military service and training in banking he worked in the financial industry during his entire career, including 35 years at the New York Branch of BayernLB, a German public sector bank. He retired in 2015 from his last position at that bank as Executive Vice President U.S. Capital Markets. He holds a Master in Political Sciences from State University of Bavaria, and an M.B.A. in Finance from Pace University.

Video presentation: The Marshall Plan

In this upbeat and entertaining presentation, DMA members will be treated to a discussion of how baseball has changed since our youth – whenever that youth may have been. Kelley Franco Throop will discuss how the game has evolved, and cover topics such as playoff expansion, the designated hitter, and the impact of analytics on how teams are built and the game is played. Both casual and serious baseball fans will enjoy this engaging presentation.

Kelley is a former guest lecturer at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and a former baseball contributor on CNN’s Financial Network. She is also a practicing attorney in New Canaan at her firm, Franco and Associates. Kelley tweets about baseball at @threeinningfan, and her baseball videos and other information about her can be found on her website, www.threeinningfan.com.

Video Presentation 

Dr. Alan Addley, Superintendent of Schools in Darien, will provide a report on the state of the public school system in our Town and the most significant issues currently being addressed by the Darien Board of Education and its staff. Alan was appointed School Superintendent in July 2019. Immediately prior to that time, he served for 11 years as superintendent of schools in Granby, Connecticut.

Alan is a Governing Board member for the national superintendents’ association (AASA) and a past president of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) and the Hartford Area Superintendents’ Association. Alan was the recipient of the 2017 UCONN NEAG School of Education Outstanding School Superintendent Award and was the 2019 CAPSS Connecticut Superintendent of the Year.

A native of Northern Ireland, Dr. Addley started his career as a mathematics teacher and professional soccer player. Alan has 37 years of administrative and teaching experience in private and public schools in the United States and Ireland. He earned his bachelor of science degree in education and mathematics from the University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland; a master of science degree in instructional management and curriculum from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, and his doctoral degree from the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

Video Presentation 

John McIntire will speak with us about his personal experiences and history with the island of Cuba. In particular, John will discuss the Cuban diaspora, U.S./Cuba politics, and his role as co-founder and chairman of the Cuba Emprende Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization that sponsors the largest entrepreneur training program on the island. Since 2012, the Foundation has supported programs which have graduated 8,000+ entrepreneurs and supported 6,000+ small businesses.

Based on his long involvement in Cuban affairs, John will also share his perspectives on Cuba’s near-term and medium-term outlook. He left Cuba as a child but travelled there over 20 times between 2004-16, and was a member of the official U.S. delegations that visited the island in August of 2015 and March of 2016.

John is a member of the executive committee of the policy-oriented Cuba Study Group and chair of the Cuba Working Group of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

John had a 25-year career as an international investment banker in New York and London. He retired in 2004 as a partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co, where he spent 12 years focused on Latin America, including being Goldman’s CEO for that region. Since then, he has been an active investor in and advisor to early stage companies, primarily in Latin America.

He graduated from Princeton University (1979) with an A.B. in Economics. He and his family have lived in Darien since 1991.

Here is the Video of John’s presentation.

The U.S. Navy’s first submarine, commissioned in 1900, had a displacement of 75 tons and was powered by a gasoline engine having about the same power as a 1965 Volkswagen Bug. The latest submarines have displacements of up to 21,000 tons and are powered by nuclear plants large enough to supply the needs of a small city.

DMA member John Parker will walk us through submarine history over the past 123 years, touching on people, places, and events as well as changes in design and mission. During the journey he will highlight the role of Connecticut’s two (yes, two) submarine shipyards, and he will provide insights into the early days of the nuclear submarine program.

A native of Cleveland, John has a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Case Institute of Technology. He also has a masters degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut, an MBA from New York University, and graduated from the Naval Reactors Nuclear Engineering School.

After graduating from Case in 1956, John was employed by General Dynamics Electric Boat where he was involved with the design, construction and testing of three advanced submarine power plants. He spent three years at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho Falls, Idaho. After leaving Electric Boat in 1969, he spent the remainder of his career in commercial engineering and financial management, including three years as Technical Director of Universal Oil Products’ Air Correction Division located in Darien.

Active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers throughout his professional career, John was the 2000-2001 President of ASME, and Chair of the American Association of Engineering Societies in 2002.

Video Presentation 

Darien’s first selectman Monica McNally will speak with us on “The State of the Town.” Monica was elected to her position in November 2021. Previously, for eight years, she was an elected member of the RTM, and for the last three years chaired the RTM public works committee, which led to a ban on single-use plastic bags. She most recently served on the Town’s board of selectmen.

Monica and her husband Mark Filanowski have been residents of Darien for 27 years and have two children: Helen (25) and Stephen (23). The first selectman graduated from the University of Wisconsin and spent nine years in the financial services sector as a financial consultant for Smith Barney.

Monica has been a volunteer in numerous local civic organizations, including OPUS for Person-to-Person, served as president of the YWCA Women’s Club and the Tokeneke Association Women’s Club, and worked on the Green’s Farm Academy Fundraising Committee.

Video Presentation