Today the president of Boston University made the official announcement that he's hired outgoing Mayor Thomas Menino to lead a new think tank on campus.
Soon-to-be professor Menino- will help launch BU’s new Initiative on Cities, which he said will be a place for urban leaders to share ideas.
“I hope very much to mentor new mayors in cities around the globe,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Long known for his pragmatism and mumbled speech, Menino joked that he’d keep his “style” in the halls of academia.
BU president Robert Brown said he’s excited to have Menino on campus.
“The mission of the initiative will be to engage researchers, policy makers and constituents from U.S. cities and especially from around the world to help plan the governance, management models and the development of infrastructure for cities to flourish. I can’t think of anybody better to lead such an initiative than Boston’s Mayor Menino,” Brown said.
Menino will not be teaching, but he said he looks forward to chatting with students on campus. In making the announcement he threw in his trademark humor when asked why he chose BU over other area schools, such as Harvard:
“Well, 'cause I didn’t have a passport to get to Cambridge first."
BU student, Brynn Murphy, a junior public relations major from New Jersey, said she hopes to see Menino on campus next semester.
“I definitely think the idea of having him on campus is going to propel students to be interested in political science even if it’s not something they were originally interested in. I think his perspectives on the city and how we can grow are going to be great for the university.”
Menino has agreed to a five year contract and BU said his pay will be roughly the average salary for a full professor, which is $157,000 dollars. He’ll start February 1, about a month after he leaves office.
