Andrew Cuomo, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Clinton and founder of Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP), will deliver the George Warren Brown School of Social Work Benjamin Youngdahl Lecture for Washington University’s Assembly Series at 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 17 in Graham Chapel. The title of his address is “Are We Our Brother’s Keeper?” The chapel is located just north of Mallinckrodt Center (6445 Forsyth Blvd.) on the Washington University campus.
Cuomo has spent almost 20 years solving housing problems in America. He became the second youngest cabinet member in history as HUD Secretary from 1997-2001. He is credited with instituting major reforms within the department, and his programs won the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Innovations in American Government Award. As an Assistant Secretary at HUD in 1993, Cuomo developed the Continuum of Care Strategy to help homeless people become self-supporting.
He received praise in 2000 for negotiating a historic agreement with gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson requiring changes in design, distribution, and marketing of guns to make them safer and keep them out of the hands of children and criminals.
In 1986 he founded HELP, which has become the nation’s largest private provider of transitional housing for the homeless. In addition, HELP provides education, job training, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, and mental health services. Prior to his tenure in public service, Cuomo was in private practice.
“The Youngdahl Lecture is the School of Social Work’s major offering to the University and the St. Louis community every year. This year, as we celebrate our 150th anniversary, it is especially significant,” said Shanti Khinduka, Ph.D., dean of the School of Social Work and George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor. “At a time when many other issues are threatening to displace the social concerns of our nation from the public agenda, we recognize our obligation to the socially marginalized.”
After a 2002 gubernatorial campaign in New York, Cuomo returned to serve as co-chair of HELP. In 2003 he edited Crossroads: The Future of American Politics, a collection of essays on America’s 21st century political landscape with contributors ranging from former President Bill Clinton to rapper Sean (P. Diddy) Combs. Former Vice President Al Gore called the book a “thoughtful collection of essays” and referred to Cuomo as “one of the keenest political analysts in our country.”
Cuomo is a graduate of Fordham University and the University of Albany, State University of New York, Law School.
Assembly Series lectures are free and open to the public. For more information on the Assembly Series lecture, call (314) 935-4620 or visit the Assembly Series Web page (wupa.wustl.edu/assembly).