As a native New Yorker, Sanford Moskowitz spent a lot of time in Times Square over the years.
So it was an especially meaningful experience for the professor in the global business leadership department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University to be featured on a 22-story billboard in one of the world’s most famous locales last week.
The display sprung from his inclusion in the prestigious Marquis Who’s Who – publications that chronicle “the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment.”
Marquis Who’s Who, also known as the A.N. Marquis Company, has an office building on Times Square and uses the 22-story screen on the side to highlight individuals who have been included in their publications.
Last week (Oct. 6-12), it was Moskowitz’s turn to be featured on the digital billboard, which the company estimates is viewed by around 1.5 million people daily.
“It’s been such a cool experience to be part of,” said Moskowitz, who has taught at CSB and SJU since 2005, and served as chair of the global business leadership department for seven years.
“It’s certainly gotten attention. There’s no question about that. I’ve gotten a ton of phone calls about it. I’ve even heard from people working on background material for speaking engagements. So that may be something else that comes out of this.”
Moskowitz was included in Who’s Who because he has become one of the nation’s leading experts in emerging issues like artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity.
He has written a number of books, including his most recent entitled “Managing Technology from Laboratory to Marketplace: Cheating the Valley of Death,” which was published earlier this year.
“His expertise lies in the fields of international business and global innovation, which are the focal points of his teaching,” reads a release from the organization highlighting his billboard display. “He has played a pivotal role in the development and instruction of a course that delves into the history of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and their profound influence on society in the 21st century.”
A physics major as an undergrad at the City College of New York, Moskowitz earned a master’s degree in philosophy and history and a Ph.D. in economic history and the history of technology from Columbia University.
He then went on to work for a number of years in Washington, D.C., as a consultant for various technology firms.
“That’s where my work on these issues sprang from,” he said. “I’m interested in the fact that we are in transition from one sort of revolution to another. During the last half of the 20th century, we were embedded in the IT (information technology) revolution. But we’ve moved beyond that now.
“We’ve moved from a period in which machines do what we tell them to into a period in which machines can think for themselves. That’s a major leap that comes with its own set of issues and questions.”
Grappling with those issues and questions is what put Moskowitz’s image front and center in Times Square.
“I have spent a lot of time there, and it’s exciting to be featured like this,” he said. “I’m just really honored to have been selected.”