Ira Millstein, a member of the Class of ’43, still reminisces about his high school days at Bronx Science. Having started out as an all boys school, Bronx Science has changed since he attended and grown to be more diverse, while still holding the same core values at heart. “It was very ‘liberal arts,’ in a sense, and math heavy. I felt good about going to Science. It was experimental and broadscale. It was a way of teaching that was different from other high schools,” said Millstein.

“If I missed anything, it was taking more liberal arts courses in college. It’s the last chance you have to really go out and just learn about things,” said Millstein. He went into college with the mindset of becoming an engineer, earning a Bachelor of Science from Columbia School of Engineering. However, he still felt that his passion resided in another field, so he attended Columbia Law School and now specializes in corporate governance, antitrust, and government regulation.

Although he changed his career path, Millstein is thankful for his engineering degree, as it still helps him to succeed in his current profession. “Engineering was a terrific background because I always thought of things in terms of structure. Even today, when I get into a problem, I think, ‘What is the structure, what do I have to accomplish, how do I get there?’ I just think that way, which was different than most lawyers,” said Millstein.

Since attending Columbia, Millstein has not only become a distinguished lawyer, but also a professor and author. He has advised both corporate and government boards, such as those of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the American Red Cross of Greater New York. He is very passionate about his work with the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum and explained just how many things go on behind the scenes. From organizing donations and acquiring funds to handling all of the wishes from the families of the fallen, Millstein was there virtually every step of the way.

Given all of his success, he explained how being a Bronx Science student still remains one of the biggest honors given to him. “Getting out of Science, I felt special. It was The Bronx High School of Science. Everybody knew we had to be special because we had to have been picked, and that made us all feel good. That was the best thing about going. I was different,” said Millstein.