Peggy Cifrino joins Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors

The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York is pleased to announce the appointment of Margaret “Peggy” Haberstroh Cifrino to its Board of Visitors. The longtime aide to General Colin L. Powell (1937-2021), the 1958 CCNY alumnus for whom the School is named, joins 27 other distinguished Board Members.

"Peggy Cifrino was Dad’s trusted aide for decades and was by his side through his government service and beyond. Over the years, she has come to understand and love this school as much as he did,” said Linda Powell, the Chair of the Colin Powell School Board of Visitors. “I am very grateful that Peggy will bring her commitment to our students, her boundless energy, and her deep connection to my father and his mission to the Board of Visitors.”

“Peggy Cifrino has been a part of the Colin Powell School family since the beginning. She joined General Powell on every visit to campus. She knows our students and cheers their success. Even more, she knows what this place meant to General Powell,” said Andrew Rich, the Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of the Colin Powell School. “I am thrilled that she is joining our Board of Visitors and will help to further anchor General Powell’s legacy at this place that he loved so much.”

Cifrino worked for General Powell for almost three decades. In addition to serving as his principal assistant and spokeswoman, she managed his office in Alexandria, Va. In those capacities, she was the primary liaison between the General and the government, corporate and non-profit sectors, and she assisted him in researching and editing his best-selling books, “My American Journey” and “It Worked for Me.”

From January 2001 to January 2005, Cifrino served as deputy chief of staff to Secretary Powell at the U.S. State Department. Before moving to the State Department, she was General Powell's executive assistant after his retirement as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  

Prior to working for General Powell, Cifrino was a special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, serving under three secretaries: Casper W. Weinberger, Frank C. Carlucci and Richard B. Cheney.

She is the recipient of the U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Award and the U.S. Department of Defense Award for Outstanding Public Service.

“Having been involved with the Powell School since its inception, I am honored to be a part of the Powell School community to carry on General Powell’s legacy,” said Cifrino. “There was nothing more important to General Powell than educating our next generation of leaders, especially those of diverse backgrounds who, in many cases. are the first in their families to go to college.”

About the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership
Established in April 2013, the Colin Powell School is home to the social science departments at CCNY as well as the core leadership development and public service programs of the College. With almost 4,000 students, and graduating the most CCNY students annually, the Colin Powell School mission is to transform the nation’s most diverse student body into tomorrow’s global leaders. Half of our students are immigrants; most come from lower income backgrounds. More than seventy percent are first-generation college students, and eighty percent are people of color. The Colin Powell School and City College remain among the most effective engines of economic and social mobility in the United States. The School is led by a faculty dedicated to the highest standards of research and to the university’s democratic and public obligations. Read more about the Colin Powell School.

About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.

 

Syd Steinhardt/Jay Mwamba
p: 212.650.7580
e: jmwamba@ccny.cuny.edu