11 January 2022
Greetings and Happy New Year!
When I studied at LSE over 40 years ago, I recall the uncertainties of the time, but also the promise of what lay ahead, as I prepared for my career with the ambition that I could make a difference in my chosen profession.
Fast forward to today: uncertainty still exists, challenges abound. Do we worry about the future? Or do we have hope? Probably some of both.
Either way, we each can harken to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s view that: “This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do with it.” Making a difference is both aspirational and necessary if we seek professional and personal fulfillment on our life journey.
My LSE of 40 years ago has seen a great deal of change since then — a new generation of faculty with its promise and intellectual leadership, creative use of technology to complement traditional forms of teaching and outreach, and an inviting and expansive campus. What has not changed is the School’s commitment "to know the causes of things" as its motto proclaims. LSE today, under Baroness Minouche Shafik’s leadership, embraces and calls on us to take our curiosity to the next level, both individually and in partnership with the LSE community. It is not surprising that the School’s recently launched Campaign Shaping the World affirms that curious minds are the ones doing the shaping, and for the better.
When LSE developed its LSE 2030 Strategic Plan, I am proud to say that the greatest number of contributors to the Plan’s development were alumni. Alumni affirmed, even insisted, that they had a role alongside students, faculty, and staff to empower LSE as a thought leader and change maker. Our Shaping the World Campaign invites all of us unabashedly to join in. The Campaign’s byline is clear and our role, our place, is a given. “The world needs new ideas and new leaders like never before.” By stepping up “we will advance knowledge and understanding, support potential, and create a more hopeful, equitable and sustainable world.”
LSE alumni have never been shy about stepping up. And thanks to the School’s commitment to its former students, we are seeing invaluable linkages that bring us together both with LSE —its faculty, staff, and programming— and with each other through our volunteer leadership and service around the world. Online tools like the recently launched Alumni Hub are invaluable assets. I invite you to spend some time browsing the Hub’s home page and its many links to services and supports. And as you do, think about what you both would like from the School and also have to offer and the ways in which you can contribute and advance our School.
I wish you the best for 2022. Thank you for being curious!
Best regards,
Thomas E. Kern
(MSc Public Policy and Administration 1979)
Chair, LSE Alumni Association Executive Committee