Biology alumnus and one of Dyson's first graduates to attend medical school shares his prescription for success.

I saw every course as a step closer to my goal and I truly enjoyed the process of learning.

Harold Brandford ’72 calls himself the accidental Pace student, and one can say the outcome has been positive, and even miraculous.

Arriving in United States from Barbados as a young man, he was first tipped to Pace College, as it was known in 1968, by an admissions officer at another institution he considered attending, who had praised Pace for its experience guiding foreign students. When he sat for his entrance exam, so much in the educational system of this new country seemed novel to him: the use of #2 pencils, instead of pen. Multiple choice questions, instead of essays. A required dress code of jacket and tie.

Once accepted to Pace, Brandford immediately set his sights on going to medical school, and to further this, he had found the perfect mentor in Professor of Biology Dudley Cox.

A family member of Cox had also emigrated from Barbados, so the two men immediately shared a common bond, developing a friendship over the years. When Brandford expressed concern that Pace, known primarily at the time for being a business school, had not yet seen a graduate go on to medical school, Cox was confident that it would only be a matter of time. Brandford was guided to enroll in challenging courses, seeing each as a step closer to his goal, and enjoying the process of learning.

“I will never forget the look on [Cox’s] face when I showed him my first acceptance letter from medical school. He started giggling, looking back and forth between me and the letter,” Brandford said.

Today, he is in private practice in Seattle as an anesthesiologist with a focus on outpatient surgery.

His dream of being a doctor is rooted in his childhood, a time in which Brandford describes himself as rather sickly, suffering from asthma, eczema, and frequent injuries. When he visited the office of his local doctor, Brandford admired him as a man who could “fix” people, and he aspired to do the same one day. Initially studying surgery, he later switched to anesthesiology, finding it a perfect mix of the understanding of anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology, and how these disciplines interacted.

Celebrating his 40th year in the profession, he loves his work and is inspired to keep going, hoping that through his efforts, the quality of care in outpatient surgery will continue to improve.

The journey wasn’t easy, as Brandford admits to finding the development of self-discipline initially challenging. He recalls his days at Cornell University Medical College, when he would hear the sounds of laughter and good times outside his apartment while he was studying. The habits he acquired then, however, served to benefit him.

He said, “Many people are endowed with considerable natural talent, but without self-discipline and the will to excel, they will, at best, be mediocre. Most of us are not especially gifted, but if we set a goal, and make a commitment to achieve, miracles are possible.”

Brandford, who will now be collaborating with his alma mater as part of a recent membership on the Dyson Advisory Board, also has a prescription for success for students.

“Make your priorities. Be brutally honest. If you are interested in high achievement, there will be hard work, sacrifice, commitment and self-discipline. I promise, you can surprise yourself in what you can achieve.”

Thirty-five years ago this month, Bruce Bachenheimer (BBA ’83) graduated from Pace with a degree in international management. Today, Bachenheimer is a vocal and vital member of the Pace Community, helping shape the minds of future business leaders in management and entrepreneurship. Bachenheimer recently took some time to chat with Opportunitas about what he’s working on, what he likes about Pace, and the current dynamism of New York City.

You’re both a professor at Lubin and in charge of the Entrepreneurship Lab. Tell us more about those roles.
What’s nice about teaching and running the Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab) is that I’m able to use the eLab and its many resources for my classes. It directly supports curricular instruction—things that happen in the classroom—but also provides co-curricular and extra-curricular support. For example, the eLab runs a pitch contest and business plan competition, in class we are pitching new business concepts and developing business plans.

Do you see that type of blending happening more in the future?
The whole nature of education is changing. This idea of what’s called the “sage on the stage”—one person lecturing to a room of students lined up in rows—that worked during the industrial revolution. But now, people aren’t learning well that way and students want a lot more. Society has changed. Everyone has a short attention span, whether it's texting, Twitter, or one paragraph Yelp reviews. If students aren’t learning the way I teach, I have to change the way I teach.

Is there anything you’re working on that you’re particularly excited about?
I do research, read, and speak regularly about New York City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. One thing I find particularly interesting is just how and why New York City transformed itself into an entrepreneurial city. We were big finance, traditional media, Madison Avenue ad agencies, iconic department stores. We had all of these major industries and Fortune 500 companies, but after the 2008 financial crisis we had to become a lot more entrepreneurial. How New York City did that is incredibly interesting. After the financial crisis, there’s so many things that have been done in a very strategic way. Everything from cutting some red tape to opening up Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island. And now, New York City has surpassed Boston/Cambridge as the number two metro area for VC investment after Silicon Valley.

Do you think that entrepreneurial spirit is built into the DNA of the city?
There’s certainly some of that DNA—the immigrant story, Ellis Island, if I can make it here I can make it anywhere. Additionally, there are numerous entrepreneurial ecosystem models, delineating critical components of success. What is interesting about New York is a concept called the perception of desirability. An entrepreneur can locate almost anywhere, but right now New York City is a very desirable place to be. When I was growing up back in the 70s, nobody wanted to be here. That perception has changed so much, people from around the world want to live and work here, and sometimes you’re really not sure why. That perception of what’s cool and what’s desirable changes, and right now New York City has it.

What’s your favorite thing about working at Pace?
It was always a dream to teach. Without having a PhD and publishing regularly, the thought of being able to do so on a full-time basis at a major metropolitan University was something I didn’t think was possible. Pace made it possible and it’s been incredibly satisfying. I could be entering the classroom exhausted after a long day, wondering how I’m going to make it through a 3-hour night class, and within minutes, the energy from the students...I love it.

In regards to the eLab, the autonomy. I’m happy to work toward institutional goals, the mission and objectives of the University or my School set, but the ability to do that independently and autonomously is very empowering and motivational. Given the mission and objectives, I’ve been afforded a huge degree of freedom to figure out how to best achieve them, and the resources to do it.

You can have a dinner party for any four people, living or dead. Who would you invite?
My mother, my mother-in-law, and my daughter. My mother and mother-in-law both passed away before I was married and never knew our daughter. If it was possible for my mother and mother-in-law to meet our daughter, that would be an amazing dinner for four.