Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

NBA Hall of Famer and Former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing ’66, H’06 to Speak on Feb. 17

Tuesday, January 31, 2023, By Jessica Youngman
Share
alumniMaxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairsspeakers

The Maxwell School welcomes alumnus Dave Bing ’66, H’06 at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, for a discussion that will touch on many of the themes in his 2020 autobiography “Attacking the Rim: My Journey from NBA Legend to Business Leader to Big-City Mayor to Mentor.”

head shot of Dave Bing

Dave Bing

The moderated discussion will be held in the Maxwell School Auditorium. Free and open to the public, it will be followed by a reception where attendees will have an opportunity to meet Bing.

Bing grew up in inner-city Washington, D.C., and was recruited to Syracuse University by football legends Ernie Davis ’62 and John Mackey ’63. He and classmate Sam Penceal ’66 were the only Black players on the team and among only 100 or so Black students on campus. He became lifelong friends with roommate and teammate Jim Boeheim ’66, G’73, now head coach of the men’s basketball team. With the fifth highest scoring average in the nation, he earned a spot on the All-American team.

In 1966, Bing was drafted second overall by the Detroit Pistons, and later played for the Washington Bullets and Boston Celtics. One of the most celebrated players of his era, the NBA named him to its Hall of Fame and in 1996 designated him one of its 50 greatest players of all time. In 2021, he was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

After retiring from basketball, Bing joined a Detroit steel company in a two-year training program. As he learned the business, he increasingly felt confident he could start his own business processing steel for Michigan’s auto manufacturers. Bing Steel earned him the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year award in 1984. He grew the business from four employees to more than 1,400, with $300 million in annual sales.

Bing sold the company in 2007 and was enlisted to run for mayor. He took office in May 2009 as the city faced debt, a shrinking population, high unemployment and failing infrastructure.

head shot of person in basketball uniform

Dave Bing

After leading the city through the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history, Bing turned from politics to philanthropy, founding the Bing Youth Institute, a nonprofit focused on mentoring Black boys in Detroit. Since its inception in 2014, the program and its mentorship program called BINGO has served six graduating classes and has a 100-percent high school graduation rate; 80 percent of the students are in college.

Bing’s talk is part of the Renewing Democratic Community Speaker Series that celebrates the creation of the Hicker Family Professorship with a generous gift from Bing’s former Orange teammate George Hicker ’68 and his wife, Kathy. Chris Faricy, associate professor of political science and the inaugural Hicker Family Professor in Renewing Democratic Community, will moderate the 90-minute discussion.

“Dave Bing is a Maxwell School alum who embodies the principles of democratic citizenship,” says Faricy. “I look forward to discussing his views on civil rights and basketball, his call to duty as the mayor of Detroit and his philanthropic work producing the next generation of leaders,” says Faricy. “His life is a lesson in how hard work, persistence and dedication to community can overcome setbacks and led to unprecedented success.”

Copies of Bing’s book will be available for purchase at the event.

Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP by Wednesday, Feb. 15. Parking is available at Irving Garage. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be available at the event. For additional accommodations, please email Bethany Walawender at bdwalawe@syr.edu.

For the latest updates, including any health updates for visiting campus, visit the Maxwell School’s events calendar.

  • Author

Jessica Youngman

  • Recent
  • Student’s Mobile Upcycled Clothing Business Turns Trash Into Treasures
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • Q&A for “Will Work for Food,” a new book exploring labor and the food chain
    Friday, August 22, 2025, By Ellen Mbuqe
  • Chaz Barracks Fuses Art, Scholarship and Community in Summer Residency
    Thursday, August 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Welcome Week 2025: What You Need to Know
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By Kathleen Haley
  • How Otto the Orange Spent Their Summer Vacation (Video)
    Tuesday, August 19, 2025, By News Staff

More In Media, Law & Policy

NASCAR Internship Puts Jenna Mazza L’26 on the Right Track to Career in Sports Law

A lifelong NASCAR fan, Jenna Mazza L’26 has a photo of herself at age 4 standing with legendary driver Jimmie Johnson’s diecast car. So, imagine her elation when she had the opportunity to take a photograph with Johnson himself this…

New $1M Gift to Build Bridges and Create Global Map to Enhance Democracies

With a new $1 million gift from The Reynolds Foundation, researchers at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs hope to create a new global map, one that provides a clear pathway to strengthening democracy and freedom throughout the…

Professor Anthony Adornato Trains Journalists in Kosovo Through Fulbright

For Associate Professor Anthony Adornato, a recent Fulbright experience brought him back to his journalism roots. The former television anchor and reporter returned from a three-week Fulbright Specialist experience in Kosovo, where he trained journalists at the country’s public service…

Syracuse University and University of Bergen Host Transatlantic Alliance for Law, Outreach and National Security Conference

The Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL) and the University of Bergen Faculty of Law recently hosted a group of national security scholars from 16 universities and 12 states at the first Transatlantic Alliance for Law, Outreach…

After Tragedy, Newhouse Grad Rediscovers Her Voice Through Podcasting

When Erika Mahoney ’12 graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, she had no idea that her journalism training would one day help her navigate the most devastating chapter of her own life. Today, the former National Public…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.