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MCC Daily Tribune

President's Wednesday Message

This Friday, Christy Fogal, Professor of Mathematics and MCC's Faculty Council of Community Colleges delegate, and I will be at FIT in New York City to celebrate the inauguration of SUNY's thirteenth Chancellor, Dr. Kristina Johnson.

Dr. Johnson comes to SUNY after a notable and successful career in higher education, private industry, and government. Holding a BS, MS, and PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University, Dr. Johnson has served as provost of Johns Hopkins University, dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, and professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She was also co-founder and CEO of Cube Hydro Partners, LLC, a clean-energy infrastructure company and served as Under Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy under President Obama. Of particular note to MCC, among many distinctions, Dr. Johnson is a fellow of the Optical Society of America, International Electronics and Electrical Engineering (IEEE), and the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE). You can find her full bio here.

Chancellor Johnson joined SUNY last fall and delivered her first State of the University in January. This speech, much like her experience, offered insight into her priorities for the system: Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Individualized Education; Sustainability; and Partnerships. It also affirmed her commitment to supporting community and global engagement, diversity and inclusion, student success, and the value of each SUNY sector. Additionally, at challenging time for higher education funding, Dr. Johnson has committed to raising funds that could be used to incentivize campus-based resource development and has made securing donations for the SUNY Impact Fund (begun by former Chancellor Zimpher) a priority. I would expect that Friday's inauguration speech will include all of these themes and more.

As she assembles her leadership team and continues to articulate her vision for the system, Chancellor Johnson has visited campuses and reached out to leaders from every constituency: students, faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, government, industry, and community. She has demonstrated a willingness to listen to their input and learn from SUNY's past while still advancing toward her vision for its future. Her pride in every aspect of SUNY from academics to athletics is evident.

A live stream of Friday's inauguration which begins at 10 am will be available on the SUNY website, and I hope you will consider watching. Please feel free to share your well wishes on the blog.

Anne Kress
Office of the President
09/12/2018