After serving 10 years as President of Pace, Stephen Friedman will be bidding farewell to his position and will be handing the presidential torch to Pace President-Elect Marvin Krislov come August.

Friedman first became involved with Pace after taking an interest in higher education and having a friend bring to his attention that Pace was having a dean search for its law school, a position which he acquired.

“I loved being Dean of the law school. I was obviously on a very steep learning curve because I hadn’t spent a lot of time learning about higher education for the past 40 years, and the law school turned out to be a very good size to learn about Pace, and higher education generally,” Friedman said.

After being dean of the law school for three years the dean was chosen to be interim president with full authority, by the Board of Trustees after former Pace President David Caputo stepped down when Pace was having financial difficulties and a falloff in enrollment in the fall of 2007.

“The board said you’re an interim president, but we’re not going to conduct a search [for a new president], and you have full authority to act, so I acted,” Friedman said.

Friedman was chosen to be permanent president by the Board of Trustees after an accreditation visit by the Middle States Association where they expressed concern there was no one filling the position.

Since taking office the President has gotten great joy out of watching his students transform into different people during their journey through college.

“My experience as president has  [overall] been wonderful. Nothing is wonderful every day and every moment, but the most satisfying, and satisfying is too weak a word, the thing I’ve just gotten [is the] incredible joy out of watching our students from the time they enter to the time they graduate,” Friedman said.

Some of the things Friedman is also proud of the physical changes to Pace with the addition of the new dorms, new degrees, the Pace Path, being in an improved financial state since he took office, and the incorporation of technology into professions.

“The most important change is that technology is changing every profession and every discipline, so we have to [update] our curriculum to change what we teach so our students have some understanding that technology is transforming the places where they are going,” Friedman said. “And that’s tough because many people have been teaching [a program for 25 years] and they have to make room for technology.”

However, Friedman feels as though there are things that his successor can improve on, including retention rates, branding, and marketing to the general population.

“[Communicating our story] is terribly important, because that public perception of Pace effects the way alumni feel about the university and they’re giving and support, it affects enrollment, and the perception of our brand, our ability to attract faculty, it affects the way our students feel about being students here,” Friedman said. “I want people to feel very proud of having been a student here, and to get prouder over the next 20 years.”

Friedman plans to stay involved with Pace by aiding Krisolv in his transition. While he will have no official role, he will be located in an office in the New York City campus for the next three years.

“I’d do anything that the new President or the board thinks will be helpful, but I will have no formal role,” Friedman said.

The retiring president has faith that Pace is in good hands with his successor.

“I’m sure he will make varies changes, but I think Pace is in very good shape right now,” Friedman said.

After his retirement, Friedman plans to spend more time with his family, and become an executive coach for non-profit leaders. He says the reason for this is because of his love of helping people.

“I have always thought of my life as a combination of practicing law and public service. So I was in government three times, and I really thought my job [at Pace University] as a kind of public service. It’s not that I’m paid, I’m certainly paid, but I think the act of helping is separate from the act of being paid,” Friedman said.