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School of Public Policy Hosts Graduation 2010

The School of Public Policy (SPP) will hold its 2010 commencement ceremony at Alumni Park on Friday, Apr. 16, at 10:30 a.m. on the Malibu campus. Angela Hawken, associate professor of public policy, was present the commencement address. Diane Pregerson Glazer and Guilford Glazer, cofounders of the Diane and Guilford Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies at Pepperdine University, will each receive the Honorary Doctor of Laws award. SPP alumnus Cathryn J. Kingsbury, principal lobbyist of the Livingston Group, will be honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. 

For more information, contact the School of Public Policy at (310) 506-7490, or visit their Web site.

Diane Pregerson Glazer

Diane Pregerson Glazer has been an attorney, a television public affairs talk show host, and a facilitator of public discussions in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. She recently presented introductory remarks at “Finding Common Ground: Reconciliation Among the Children of Abraham,” the inaugural event of the Glazer Institute at Pepperdine assembling Christian, Jewish, and Muslim scholars and diplomats to discuss the issues that unite these communities.

Glazer was host of The Diane Glazer Show, a long-running cable television talk show where she conducted more than 500 interviews with world leaders such as secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, James Baker, and General Alexander Haig; vice president Al Gore; seven Israeli prime ministers; leaders from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Iran; leaders of European and African countries; and dignitaries from Japan and China.

An attorney by profession, Glazer served as in-house counsel to Columbia Pictures in Hollywood, California. She is a member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council where she is also a board member, and meets and introduces many of the council’s guest speakers, including Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Muslim, and Jewish leaders.

Glazer received her bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from UCLA, graduating with honors, and earned a Phi Beta Kappa Key. She received her law degree from the University of Southern California. In addition to establishing the Glazer Institute, she and Guilford Glazer are involved with the School of Jewish Studies at Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, and the Diane and Guilford Glazer School of Business and Management at Ben-Gurion University in Israel. The Glazer's are also active in the Jewish studies program at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Guilford Glazer

Guilford Glazer is an industrialist and real estate developer whose life work has stretched over commercial, retail, and industrial development throughout the United States. His commitment to global justice as a humanitarian and philanthropist likewise undergirds the landscape of dialogue in pursuit of Middle East peace. Over a long association with the RAND Corporation, he has initiated and sponsored studies seeking peace between Israel, Palestine, and their Arab neighbors—the most recent including “the Arc Plan” which proposes a highspeed rail system linking the cities of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as a land plan for the West Bank.

Glazer’s real estate enterprises, headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, have developed many U.S. retail mall and office building projects throughout the nation, notably on the East and West Coasts, the Midwest, and part of the South. Among Mr. Glazer’s major projects are the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California, and the business district of the Atomic City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Prior to entering the development industry, Glazer had been the chair of the Glazer Steel Corporation. Upon his return from service in World War II, he took over his late father’s business based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Glazer Steel expanded and flourished under Glazer’s leadership, becoming a major steel fabricator of bridges, dams, industrial plants, and other buildings.

Glazer served as a corporate director for First Interstate Bank. He has likewise been a board member for numerous nonprofits, both foreign and domestic. His own charitable operations are conducted with his wife Diane through the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation.

Glazer attended The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.

Cathryn J. Kingsbury

Cathryn J. Kingsbury is a principal lobbyist for the Livingston Group, a bipartisan government relations and affairs firm in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1999 by former House Appropriations Committee chair Robert L. Livingston, the Livingston Group provides public affairs, government relations, and lobbying services worldwide to a select clientele of businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies. Among the clients that Kingsbury represents are the Arab Republic of Egypt, addressing issues in the U.S.-Egypt relationship, and the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., focusing on partnerships to bring Latina volunteers and members into girl scouting. Since joining the firm in 2002, her responsibilities have expanded and she is currently lead proposal writer and strategist for Livingston’s new business development team.

Prior to her tenure at Livingston, Kingsbury served as a consultant with the Solomon Group, founded by the late U.S. representative Gerald B. H. Solomon. Her areas of specialization have been appropriations, education, financial services, foreign affairs, immigration, and transportation. Her prior clients have included the Republic of Azerbaijan and Virgin Nigeria Airways.

Kingsbury has served on the board of Delta Delta Delta sorority alumnae in Virginia, for which she has led a team in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure each year since 2004. She provides counsel for the Election Monitors Institute that provides former legislators opportunities to serve as election observers.

Kingsbury received her bachelor’s degree in 1997 from Seaver College, followed by her master of public policy in 1999. Fully engaged in alumni life, she has served as president of the D.C. Waves chapter of the Pepperdine Alumni Association. She provided the alumni address at the recent dedication of the 2011 Pennsylvania Avenue campus in Washington, D.C., and in 2009 she was honored with the University’s Wave of Excellence award.