A College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) | Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumna has been designated by the President of the United States to serve on a national council that helps set policy and funding priorities for humanities-related research and scholarship across the country. Margaret (Maggie) FitzPatrick, who majored in English and policy studies in A&S | Maxwell, has been nominated for the National Council on the Humanities by President Joe Biden L’68. The council includes a board of 26 prominent scholars and professionals who each serve a term of six years.

FitzPatrick is a corporate affairs leader who has spent her career working to strengthen engagement between businesses and communities. In her role with the National Council on the Humanities, she and other board members advise the chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Created in 1965, the NEH supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding proposals. The National Council on the Humanities meets at least three times a year in Washington, D.C. to review grant applications and offer guidance to the NEH’s chair on those applications and other matters of policy.

FitzPatrick, the founder of FitzPatrick & Co., a communications and marketing advisory firm, has led corporate affairs for several large companies, including Exelon, Johnson & Johnson and Cigna Corporation. In recognition of her work, she has been named to the PR Power List, the Global Power List, The Washington Business Journal C-suite of the Year Class and named a Public Relations Woman of Distinction.

A longtime supporter of the humanities, FitzPatrick recently completed an appointment with the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, where she served as Vice Chair of the Commission and Chair of the Public Arts Committee. During her career, she has had extensive experience serving on non-profit and publicly traded company boards. She has also been responsible for the oversight of corporate foundations providing millions of dollars in grant funding to arts and community organizations across the United States.

In addition to FitzPatrick, there is another board member with connections to Syracuse University. President Biden, who notably received a juris doctor from the College of Law in 1968, also appointed former Syracuse journalism professor David Hajdu to the National Council in 2022. Hajdu is an acclaimed art critic and currently teaches journalism at Columbia University.