Fire Chief Begins Day One at Harvard

Milpitas Fire Chief is spending the rest of the month in a classroom at Harvard University.

From today through July 29, he will be interacting with senior officials at the state and local level at the John F. Kennedy School for Government.

The purpose of the program is career development and seeks to make participants more effective public managers.

"I'm just looking to be a sponge," said Sturdivant.

The chief said he also planned to have discussions, dialogues and case studies with elected officials, department heads and senior executives.

The city of Milpitas will cover his travel expenses. The program, which normally costs $11,200, was paid for through a fellowship by the National Fire Academy. Six other fire officials received the same fellowship. They are:

• John McKearney, fire chief, Vancouver Fire Department
• Patrick Butler, assistant chief, Los Angeles Fire Department
• Todd Bower, deputy fire chief, Denver Fire Department
• Steve Cover, fire chief, Virginia Beach (Virginia) Fire Department
• Daniel Kistner, fire chief, Lufkin (Texas) Fire Department

"These senior fire executives will have an experience that will support their ability to exercise leadership," said Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn Gaines in a press release.

"Our cities and communities are confronted with significant challenges, and the Harvard program is a very valuable and unique experience that assists the fellows selected in exercising leadership to overcome them. The partnering organizations are delighted to award these fellowships."

Sturdivant, who earned a masters in homeland security from the Naval Postgraduate School, has said he sees value in formal education for firefighters.

"It had always been viewed as a blue-collar, physical labor kind of job," he said. Today, firefighters need the creative problem-solving and critical-thinking skills that can come with an education, he said.

Within the Milpitas Fire Department, firefighters who want to move up and be promoted to captain will now be required to have a associate's degree. Similarly, firefighters applying for battalion chief will need a bachelor's degree.

Fire chiefs are now expected to have master's degrees and PhDs, said Sturdivant. A higher educational standard is being pushed coast to coast, he said.