When I applied to work for the Center for Place, Culture and Politics in 2007, my “career” in academia was slowly but surely crumbling. I was in my fifth year at the urban planning doctoral program at Columbia University, without a dissertation proposal and without any funding left. In my cover letter when I applied to be the CPCP assistant I wrote, “I hope you find that my credentials met your requirements, because I am in dire need of money. Also, I have read all your books.” I had never met Neil before, and had no idea whether or not he had the sense of humor to appreciate my idiosyncratic approach.
Fortunately, he did, and I was hired. He emphasized that although he was hiring me for bureaucratic work, I should not give up on finishing my Ph.D. and asked to read whatever draft of a dissertation proposal I had at that point. He invited me to join the weekly CPCP seminar and participate in the center intellectually as much as any other doctoral student, and also encouraged me to collaborate with faculty on the Advisory Board to further develop the Center as a public meeting ground of radical social critique. With Neil’s unfailing, open-minded support, CPCP fellows and I have since been able to curate programs with themes as disparate as anti-war education, anti-gentrification movements, development in South Asia, and documentary film series focused on the history of social change.
In the fall of 2008, Neil gave the directorship of the Center to David Harvey, his mentor and long-time comrade in critical geography. As he prepared to depart for a one-semester leave in Barcelona, I remember he said to me, with his characteristic amicably biting wit, “I want you to look after David. You are going to have to take him by the hand and lead.” And then he added, “I hope you know that I trust you completely.”
Thank you for trusting in me, Neil, as a scholar (and as of 2011, finally a Ph.D.) as well as with the unique, invaluable Center you founded. I hope you know that it has been truly, completely an honor.
