A crowd of about 100 alumni, trustees, staff and friends gathered for the annual Arthur F. Burns Fellowship alumni dinner at the Ritz Carlton in New York on February 23. They battled a fierce rainstorm to hear keynote speaker E. Gerald Corrigan, a managing director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and chairman of the firm’s regulated bank subsidiary.

Gerald Corrigan of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

As Burns chairman Frank Loy noted in his introductory remarks, it would be hard to find a more relevant speaker than Mr. Corrigan. Goldman Sachs, which sponsors the annual alumni dinner, has attracted attention from the news media amid the global financial crisis and more recently its alleged role in helping Greece conceal its debt levels to meet euro zone requirements. Corrigan joined Goldman in 1994 after serving nine years as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Corrigan’s remarks at the dinner were off the record. However, on Feb. 22, he became the first executive at Goldman to speak publicly about the swaps arrangement with Greece that reduced the nation’s national debt by $3.2 billion. "[The swaps] did produce a rather small, but nevertheless not insignificant reduction, in Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio," Corrigan told a panel of U.K. lawmakers. The deal was "in conformity with existing rules and procedures."

Gerald Corrigan of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

A lively question-and-answer period followed his remarks. Guests welcomed the timeliness of the speech. "Corrigan was cautious when outlining Goldman’s position," said Anne Marie Kelly, a 2000 Burns alumna, now working in Washington, D.C., for Booz Allen Hamilton’s Financial Intelligence group. "That’s understandable considering what’s been in the news."

Kelly says she attends all Burns events she is able to, including the annual dinners in New York and the receptions at the German ambassador’s residence in Washington to welcome each new class of fellows. "[The gatherings] are rewarding both personally and professionally," says Kelly. "You never know who you’ll come across."

Following the dinner, attendees gathered for a dessert reception. "I’m impressed by how much alumni stay actively involved," said Wolfgang Pordzik, executive vice president for corporate public policy at DHL North America and a Burns trustee. "There’s a palpable sense of enthusiasm here."

Gerald Corrigan of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Guests lingered for several hours, talking with friends and making new acquaintances. "Allowing journalists to report from another country’s perspective is critically important," said Guido Auen, president of the Intercultural Institute, a New York-based consulting group, following the dinner. "I really support the Burns’ mission."

Moira Herbst is currently a reporter for Bloomberg News and was previously a staff writer for BusinessWeek. She lives in New York City. She spent her fellowship in 2009 at Der Spiegel magazine in Berlin.