Harry Silver

Harry Silver has been a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor/Senior Research Scholar in the Faculty of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University since 2013.  His role at SIPA includes teaching, extensive student career coaching, networking advice, resume preparation and the facilitation of several related workshops. At the request of the Dean, he also engages in a broader set of supportive activities including the admissions, alumni mentoring and professional development processes. Silver teaches a course built upon his significant experience in several organizations — ‘Leading and Sustaining Change’ — that seeks to equip students with tools and skills to lead change efforts during their careers in the public, non-profit and social sectors. He plans to deliver this course in an online format to a group of graduate students aiming for management careers (Social Enterprise Administration, or SEA Program) at the CU School of Social Work. At SIPA, Silver serves as faculty advisor for capstone course projects and several student independent study courses.
Silver also mentors CU students enrolled in the Executive Masters of Science in Technology Management program, particularly with a public sector focus, within the School of Professional Studies. His mentoring activities extend to military veterans who recently left active duty within the American Corporate Partners program and also to weekly reading sessions with a student at neighboring P.S. 36 within the Read Ahead program.
Formerly a Managing Director with Goldman Sachs, Silver served during 2012-13 as a Senior Advisor/Loan Executive with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At the DHS, he suggested potential areas of improvement in public-private collaboration related to critical infrastructure and provided independent and critical assessments of policies, procedures and tools impacting the private sector. During a career spanning four decades at Goldman, Silver led a number of global operational and risk management initiatives in the areas of investment banking, general (corporate) services, human capital management, compliance operations, crisis management, global security, and vendor risk management. Silver has also held positions as: SVP and Chief Administrative Officer at the (internet start-up) Wit Soundview Group; Executive Director at Cravath, Swaine and Moore; Vice President/Chief of Staff to the President of Personal and Banking Services at Chemical Bank; Principal with the consulting firm Booz, Allen and Hamilton; and Auditor at Arthur Andersen & Co.
Silver holds a B.S. with honors in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. He is a certified public accountant and formerly a FINRA registered supervisor.