“As a fellow southerner, it was comforting to know him"

I was very sad to hear that Professor Lowi passed away.  I graduated in ’08, and although I never had him as a professor, I spoke with him every now and then during my time at Cornell -- I loved the Cornell in Washington program, and as a fellow southerner, it was comforting to know him when I was so far away from home. My story is small, but it was funny to me so I thought I’d share it:

Inspired by my time in the Cornell in Washington program, I moved to DC right after graduating from Cornell. I was a new staffer in the House of Representatives in 2010. 

One evening in the Capitol I saw the Professor among a small group of people at a reception. I (somewhat rudely in retrospect) cut into the group and told him that [I] just wanted to quickly say hello. I had just recently been hired by a Congressman from New York, and since I was quite proud of myself, I wanted to let him know since I thought he’d be proud of me, too. He kind of smiled, said “congratulations,” and told me that I should quit my job immediately, get out of politics, and pursue a PhD to “actually become an expert in something.” Everyone thought this was very funny. Although he was (mostly) joking, I ultimately did go to law school, also at Cornell. 

He was a great man, and I'm glad I have that memory of him.

Casey Duffy

Cornell Class of 2008