Grad Counsels Beijing Olympics

Kelly Crabb began his MPA at BYU with the goal to work internationally, and he recently served on the international counsel for the Beijing Olympic Games. Goal accomplished?

That would be an understatement. Crabb, MPA class of 1973, combined his education at BYU with a law degree from Columbia and has since built an expertise practicing intellectual property law and working with Asian firms.

In his legal career he has represented Paul McCartney, Elizabeth Smart, and Academy-Award winning producer Gerald Molen. He won gymnast Paul Hamm his gold medal from an Athens Olympics' legal dispute, wrote a musical, and produced a television documentary. But he considers his work in Beijing the engagement of a lifetime, and he says his MPA has never been more important.

“All the things I've done in my career have been helped by my public management degree, but none more than this,” he says. “I'm constantly working with government officials. The Olympics is on such a large scale. It's an administrative function as much as anything.”

As co-head of Morrison-Foerster LLP's engagement in the international counsel in Beijing, Crabb dealt with practically every aspect of the Olympics during the last six years, including the game's infrastructure, intellectual property, and commerce.

Crabb says flexibility was one reason earning an MPA was the right fit for him. “I don't have the classic city manager's background, but that was never my intent either. I wanted to go into the Foreign Service.”

As a student, Crabb worked with Karl Snow, a former institute director, to ensure his MPA education would align with his career ambitions. And while his career has taken twists as diverse opportunities have come, his educational foundation hasn't budged.