By Alex Robinson
Former city Comptroller John Liu did not stay unemployed for long.
The former mayoral candidate started a new job Wednesday, teaching part time at Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs.
Liu will teach public policy and municipal finance for the Manhattan college’s masters in public administration program.
His class will draw from Liu’s experience in city government, will focus on budget and financial analysis and will cover a number of topics, including economic development policy, labor relations, auditing and investment management.
“As comptroller, John Liu oversaw a city budget of more than $70 billion and was responsible for a pension system more than double that amount,” said Dean David Birdsell. “His depth of experience in shaping and evaluating budgets – he was a City Council member before being elected comptroller – will be enormously beneficial to our students, most of whom will spend their professional lives wrestling with the intricacies of public finance.”
His appointment is for just for one semester, a Baruch College spokeswoman said, as adjunct professors are reappointed on a semester-by-semester basis.
Liu is no stranger public education, having attended public schools from Kindergarten through to his last year of college. He attended Bronx High School of Science and then went on to study mathematical physics at SUNY’s Binghamton University, where he also worked as a teaching assistant. He later managed a group of actuaries at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, before being elected to city council.
Liu came in fourth place in the 2013 Democratic mayoral primary after an investigation into his office’s campaign finance practices blemished his campaign and resulted in the conviction of his campaign treasurer and a fund-raiser.
The city Campaign Finance Board subsequently denied Liu $3.53 million in matching funds in August, for which he is suing the city.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
