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A Man for All Reasons
Citizen OF THE YEAR
Whether in politics, business, the arts or academe,
Larry DeNardis has always been the guy to turn to to get things done
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Business New Haven
1/26/1998
By: Lori Green
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“That rule is the better which is exercised over
better subjects.”
So wrote Aristotle in his volume entitled Politics. A reminder that in the 4th century B.C., thinking and reading citizens, and possibly even some among the merchant hoards of Greece, understood that the purpose of enlightened leadership was to enrich and empower the individual as well as to govern society.
Certainly, many students who study Aristotle possess a budding passion for public service, much like Lawrence J. DeNardis did when he majored in political science and later received a doctoral degree in the field. However, DeNardis turned out to be one of those rare leaders who not only say they can listen, care and act effectively, but actually do it.
Today, as president of the University of New Haven and board member of business, arts, health care and other community service organizations, DeNardis has less interest in telling or selling his own story than in giving life, form and perpetuity to standards of excellence and community values.
As the youngest delegate to the 1965 Connecticut Constitution Convention, which was convened to establish equal voting rights in the state, DeNardis first acted on his commitment to advance the interests of a democratic (with a small d; the man after all is a Republican) society. Since then, the state's motto: Qui transtulit sustinet (He Who Transplanteth Sustains), has at least begun to become a somewhat viable and meaningful credo. All Connecticut residents could now participate in political and community life, whether your ancestors had connections to the original assembly of constitution writers or not.
After nearly 20 years representing the people of Connecticut and New Haven as state senator throughout the 1970s, and later in the House of Representatives during the 1980s, DeNardis blazed an enduring trail of landmark legislation from tax relief for the elderly, to a workable bottle recycling system. He expanded state aid to local education and spearheaded a successful drive to finance needed renovations of New Haven's Union Station and the Shubert Performing Arts Center.
In a stroke of luck for the continuing effort to tackle New Haven's current economic development challenges, DeNardis decided to leave Washington after holding an influential post at the U.S. Department of Heath & Human Services. Yet DeNardis the pragmatist saw no value in burning his bridges to the Beltway, and continues to forge stronger ties among business, the federal government and academia. Says DeNardis, “I still spend time both on the Hartford scene and the Washington scene.”
As a member of the national board of directors of the Washington-based National Association of Colleges and Universities (NICU), DeNardis contributes to formulating higher education policy and has won major congressional victories for higher education programs, including playing a key role in establishing provisions in the tax act of 1997 that allow tax credits for higher education and for educational IRAs.
On the state level, DeNardis explains, “I'm involved with Governor Rowland and some of the committees he's established for economic development planning. I sit on the Committee on Education and Biotechnology, and our [UNH] deans and officers are constantly meeting with business leaders and looking for opportunities.”
On the local business front, DeNardis is clearly present and accounted for. He describes himself as an “unofficial advisor to the mayor,” and admires New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr.'s planning acumen and result-driven orientation. As the only current college president on the board of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, DeNardis stays ahead of the curve on trends and developments in the economic life of the region.
Maybe that's why Regional Workforce Development Board called him to ask if UNH's School of Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism & Dietetics Administration would help it train workers for the new Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale.
“And that's exactly what happened,” says DeNardis. “They established the process, and we provided the expertise from our faculty.”
The university's Health and Safety Program, for example, was developed in close collaboration with business and industry as a response to the unmet need from many corners of the business community for technical and compliance assistance in learning how to live with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
In addition, DeNardis was instrumental in expanding UNH's Center for Family Business and in launching the historic Symposium on Managed Healthcare organized by the University's newly formed Institute for Healthcare Management and Policy, as well as developing the UNH Center for Business Partnerships.
DeNardis is not temperamentally prone to perch in the ivory tower and act in gestures of noblesse oblige to benefit commerce and the arts. He has literally provided a new lease on life for Orchestra New England (ONE) by giving the ensemble an administrative home owned by the university.
Still unsatisfied with merely keeping Connecticut's premier chamber music group as a foster child, DeNardis says “The next step is to bring them fully within the university fold. In the longer term, if we reach some financial stability, we can use our faculty, particularly our marketing faculty, to promote ONE and have them be more active, especially during the summer where they might play on town greens throughout this area, and around the state and New England.”
Along with “comrade in arms” Ronald G. Shaw, president of the Pilot Pen Corp. of America and Shubert board president, DeNardis succeeded in securing state and other funding to improve the New Haven landmark, and continues to works toward its renovation.
Always seemingly up to his elbows in details that will combine to produce greater long-term benefits for the public, DeNardis is committed to the city's endeavors to become an arts, entertainment and education center as opposed to a large retail center.
Explains DeNardis: “That's one of the most significant changes that happened in 1997 - the current mayor seeing that New Haven will not be a major retail center but rather a city working to create a strategic business plan for downtown that builds on our current strengths. And those are in the field of arts, education and entertainment.”
DeNardis' view is that New Haven needs a new performing arts center with a much larger stage space and seating capacity in addition to the Shubert. Whence will the capital flow? DeNardis' vision is that “The major source of funds would come from the state of Connecticut and be part of the state's contribution to the urban development of New Haven. They have just made a huge and unprecedented contribution [$10 million] to the Bushnell [Memorial in Hartford].”
What more can one say? Larry DeNardis' integrity, learning and ability to get good things done the right way has earned him more than just a couple of Boy Scout badges to sew on his tie. The Quinnipiac Council Boy Scouts of America presented Lawrence DeNardis with its 1997 Good Scout award in honor of his achievements in community service, support for business, and in raising funds for the Scouting program.
So, what else is new?
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