Josef Mittlemann '72 P'00 P'04, adjunct lecturer in engineering, has accepted the position of chief operating officer of Silverstein Properties, the New York real estate giant and World Trade Center leaseholder announced Jan. 3.
Jon Cohen '87, adjunct lecturer in engineering, will replace Mittlemann this semester as instructor of the popular EN 9: "Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations."
Mittlemann, who will remain an adjunct lecturer at Brown, described his decision to accept Silverstein's offer as a difficult but quick one, adding that he sees the job as an opportunity to work on an important project in the field he knows best - real estate.
Students taking EN 9 will not be left in the lurch by Mittlemann's departure.
Cohen, an experienced entrepreneur and principal of the Newport Hotel Group, has extensive knowledge of the field and will provide proper leadership for the course, said Clyde Briant, dean of engineering.
"Jon has been involved in EN 9 for a long time," said Barrett Hazeltine, professor emeritus of engineering. Hazeltine taught the course last semester.
Cohen delivered some EN 9 guest lectures last semester and was well received by students, Hazeltine said.
Mittlemann said he and Cohen have met to refresh the EN 9 curriculum. The two have also worked together, leading a group independent study project and advising the Brown Entrepreneurship Program.
Though Cohen intends to draw from the syllabi of both Mittlemann and Hazeltine, he said he would steer toward Mittlemann's because many students probably registered expecting him to teach the class.
Cohen said EN 9 will feature four modules: marketing, strategic planning, finance and entrepreneurship, and organization behavior.
"This class is great because it makes students think about an environment they might be in when they graduate," Cohen said, adding that the Brown curriculum's focus on personal choice and individual exploration mirrors the experience of entrepreneurs in the business world.
"I know there is some confusion with the changes, but we're looking forward to a great semester. Students should look forward to the same type of excellent experience they would have received had Professor Mittlemann taught the class," Cohen said.
Originally scheduled for two sections, EN 9 will be offered in one section this semester. The class will meet from 2:30 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday in Barus and Holley 168. Brown's online course announcement had not been updated to reflect the change in instructor Tuesday evening.
Though Mittlemann is now working in New York, he said he is not leaving Brown behind.
"While I am here in New York, my heart is always at Brown with my students," he said.
He will return to Brown Feb. 12 to lead a Career Week discussion panel, he said. Mittlemann is a planning committee member for the event.
Mittlemann said he hopes to participate in this semester's EN 9, possibly delivering some lectures as a guest or via video. He is also a first-year advisor for the Division of Engineering and an advisory board member of the Brown Entrepreneurship Program.
Mittlemann was a 2003 recipient of the Undergraduate Council of Students Award for Teaching Excellence. He continues to receive e-mail from past students, he said.
He said his new position at Silverstein is akin to working in a business "laboratory," where he can examine the complexities of running an organization and working with various players, from construction contractors to governmental regulators and environmental watchdogs.
Brown's lack of a graduate business program meant that the University could not support his desire to perform research, he said, pointing to his role at Silverstein as a way to examine real-world business and organizational management.
As chief operating officer, Mittlemann has been asked by Silverstein Properties President and CEO Larry Silverstein to examine several areas of the company, including an overall evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses, Mittlemann said.
"Joe will be a tremendous asset as we move forward on the (World Trade Center project) and other exciting developments. I have asked him to work directly with me and other key people on all the activities of Silverstein Properties and I am confident he will do a superb job," Silverstein wrote in a Jan. 3 company statement.
Silverstein and Mittlemann have a longstanding relationship dating back to the 1970s, when Silverstein was Mittlemann's real estate mentor after graduating Brown. They have worked together on social and charitable projects.
Silverstein Properties regularly appears in national headlines as leaseholder of the World Trade Center complex. Silverstein's efforts in redeveloping Lower Manhattan will soon materialize with the opening of 7 World Trade Center next year, followed by Freedom Tower in 2009. Silverstein also owns and operates several other residential and commercial buildings, primarily in New York.
