Praise for
The Dean of New Things

“After spending nearly 50 years in academic and administrative positions at the largest urban public university in the US, John Mogulescu has chronicled his experience bringing change to the hardscrabble environment of The City University of New York. More than a memoir, this book tackles some of the impediments and challenges facing higher ed today. This is an important book that should be a guide for future leaders in higher education.”

— Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor Emeritus, The City University of New York

“John Mogulescu’s expert and personal account of nearly fifty years of making change at one of the nation’s largest urban public universities should matter to all institutions of higher education, especially as they look to the future. Written with the passion of a gifted leader, the book generously shares an extraordinary wealth of experience and understanding of the challenges faced by universities and the communities that sustain them.”

– Louise Mirrer, Ph.D., President and CEO, New-York Historical Society

“A rare animal in the literary-scholarly forest: a policy memoir. It is simultaneously an inviting, reflective story of one person’s career … and a revealing analysis of how to innovate strongly and capably within a large, change-resistant, public organization. John Mogulescu accomplished simply amazing things. Throughout he showed great integrity in admitting to and learning from institutional flaws and shortcomings, making no excuses about the need to remedy them, and tackling them to enhance opportunities for even the most challenged students.”

– John Mollenkopf, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, and Director, Center for Urban Research

“John Mogulescu … devoted his professional career to expanding the reach and impact of the City University of New York. Over the course of five decades … he created or managed a host of education and training programs … that transformed thousands of lives. This remarkable book, part memoir, part treatise on policy making and program management in the public sector, tells the story of his many accomplishments in a way that is both engaging and instructive.”

– Richard M. Freeland, President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor, Northeastern University

“In this engrossing book, the reader is taken on a journey of striving, frustration, stamina, and political courage that is at once moving and perceptive, offering seminal insights into the realities of higher education and the myriad challenges confronting those who put the interests of students first.”

– Dr. David Steiner, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, Former Commissioner of Education, NYS

To cap his career, Mogulescu penned a personal professional memoir, The Dean of New Things: Bringing Change to CUNY and New York City. It is an extremely interesting book, relevant for all who are interested in public higher education and services. There is much here about specific innovations, about how/why/when certain reforms take hold (or not), and an on-the-ground wellspring of information about change management in an enormous public higher education system. A recount of key events is more than history; it offers a compendium of case studies. Dean Mogulescu’s work was usually, but not exclusively, at CUNY’s periphery. These are the spaces where the under-resourced, the less powerful, and the less-connected, those that truly needed education and other services, encountered a enormous public organization.

They are also the areas where higher education reach and impact has grown over the decades. In the last fifty years higher education has become much more relevant to millions who might never have considered themselves as belonging in college, who might never have realized the benefits of higher education. Accordingly, the book raises questions and issues, directly and indirectly, about how we think about the arc and very mission of higher education.

– David Potash, President, Sullivan County Community College SUNY. “The Dean of New Things Embraced Change,” The Digital Quad, August 15, 2024. Read the entire review.

“Whether you are currently involved in higher education, or a person who’s interested in the relevance of colleges and universities today, you will find this story of one man’s success in applying passion, perseverance and creativity to the challenge of keeping a public university—The City University of New York—true to its mission, both a fascinating read and a source of inspiration.  ”

– Regina Peruggi, President Emerita, Kingsborough Community College, CUNY

“This book, part memoir, part institutional history, provides an invaluable guide to how higher education can adapt to challenging circumstances and become a force for democratic change in a polarized nation. ”

– Dr. Mark Naison, Professor of African American Studies and History; Founder and Director, Bronx African American History Project, Fordham University

“A captivating narrative and a profoundly personal history of America’s largest urban university. It is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the transformative power of higher education as the engine of social mobility.”

– Peter Sloane, CEO, Heckscher Foundation