I served seven years as the chair of the Princeton economics department where I had responsibility for major policy decisions, such as whether to serve bagels or doughnuts at the department coffee hour.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My father is an economist who specialized in foreign food policy, and my mother worked for AID, a branch of the State Department, so food in regards to world affairs was talked about a lot.
I also served on many government committees.
I was a professor at Princeton University. And, in that capacity, I studied for many years the role of financial crisis in the economy.
Serving ice cream isn't exactly like serving in state government, but what I learned guides me today.
I was a Political Science major.
I was an Army intelligence agent and a veteran during the Cold War, assigned to West Germany. I was the chairman of the National Commission on Homeland Security and Terrorism for the United States for five years. I was a person who has dealt extensively with these homeland security issues. I was a governor during the 9/11 attack.
The choices of roles I made had to do with educating and entertaining. And as a result I found myself working only every two or three years.
I started at Pillsbury as a manager in one of their analysis functions, then worked my way up the corporate ladder to become vice president. Moving to Burger King was an important moment in my career.
I was an office secretary for a long time. A good secretary.
My role was to bring about fairness in the workplace. All I did was implement the laws that were currently on the books.