office as mayor in January 2014, Mayor Menino was appointed as Professor of the Practice in the Department of Political Science at Boston University; and he co-founded the Initiative on Cities (IOC), an urban leadership research center based at the university, alongside Professor of Political Science Graham Wilson. As a co-founder and co-director of the IOC, Mayor Menino helped develop the office's mission to bridge the gap between the academic study of cities and the real-world practice of urban governance. This was accomplished by hosting conferences, seminars, and a speaker series; by providing research funding to BU faculty and students; and by providing fellowship opportunities for students interested in local government. Under Mayor Menino, the IOC also created its flagship research project, the recently rededicated Menino Survey of Mayors, the only nationally representative survey of American mayors. The Survey stands as an annual examination of the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing America's urban leaders. Speech errors Mayor Menino was known for his distinctive voice, thick Boston accent, and speech errors, some of which are malapropisms. The examples here also include substitution; deletion; and addition, or epenthesis—which mean that, respectively, whole words are used in place of the intended word; portions of a word are eliminated; and portions of a word are added into the intended word. As a result of these various errors, some commentators (such as conservative radio show host and author Howie Carr) refer to the mayor as "Mumbles Menino" or "Mayor Mumbles." A typical example of one of his speech errors involves a reference to Boston's parking shortage as "an Alcatraz around my neck" (meaning, instead, an albatross around his neck), which is a substitution error. An example of Menino causing controversy with his choice of words that were occurred in an interview for the August 28, 2013, issue of the New York Times Magazine, Menino was quoted as saying that he would blow up Detroit and start all over, in reference to the inaction of the city's leaders. In response, Detroit mayor (and one-time member of the Boston Celtics) Dave Bing questioned his choice of words: "I would think the mayor of a city that recently experienced a deadly bombing attack would be more sensitive and not use the phrase 'blow up.'" The comments came just over four months after the Boston Marathon bombing. Menino apologized on September 4. Personal life Menino met Angela Faletra