President

The Board of Trustees of The City University of New York (CUNY) invites nominations and applications for the position of president of Queens College (QC). The successful candidate will serve as the tenth president of the college and will succeed Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, who led the college from 2014 until his appointment as chancellor in May 2019.

Since opening its doors in 1937, Queens College has served men and women from immigrant and working-class families. Established as the college of the future, Queens College today is distinguished by a breadth of educational opportunities that reflect the mosaic of the communities it serves. Among the most diverse institutions of higher learning in the country, the college enrolls nearly 17,000 undergraduates and 3,100 graduate students. The college offers doctoral programs in collaboration with the CUNY Graduate Center.

The college has more computer science majors than any other school in the city, and more public school superintendents, principals, teachers, and counselors in New York City have graduated from Queens College than from any other college. QC’s Aaron Copland School of Music is celebrated worldwide for combining conservatory-style training with a well-rounded liberal arts curriculum. The college is the only CUNY institution that participates in NCAA Division II sports. Rooted in a rich tradition of student disability rights activism, inclusion, and innovative program design, Queens College has become a first-choice destination for students with disabilities and scholars studying the disability experience.

QC prepares students to become leaders and agents of change in the service of their local and global communities. The campus’s unique and exceptional educational climate reflects a remarkable, diverse faculty committed to teaching and research. Experts in their fields, QC faculty have been recognized with prestigious awards from Guggenheim awards to funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Thirty-seven percent of new faculty hired in the past three years identify as Asian, Black, Hispanic, or Native American.

Just nine miles from midtown Manhattan, QC’s 80-acre tree-lined suburban campus is an important cultural and social asset for New Yorkers. With dynamic community partnerships, hundreds of athletic and cultural events per year, and a robust network of relationships with industry and businesses that offer students internships and experiential learning opportunities, Queens College serves as an institution of higher learning, community center, and hub for economic development. The Chronicle of Higher Education ranks Queens College in the top one percent of all U.S. colleges for upward social and economic mobility.

The next president of Queens College will join an institution uniquely positioned to address critical challenges and opportunities facing public higher education. The president will steward the college’s ongoing implementation of its strategic plan and its four overarching goals: facilitating student success; supporting faculty and staff excellence; weaving campus, community, and global connections; and strengthening operational capacity and infrastructure.

The next president will provide the vision and strategic leadership to further enhance enrollment and student success and strengthen relationships across the college and its extended community as a tireless advocate and champion for Queens College.

The college seeks in its next president an experienced and collaborative leader with a commitment to student success, academic and research excellence, and shared governance; a passion for and the ability to generate new resources through fundraising and other means; and the ability to build community anchored by a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. For more information and to read a comprehensive leadership profile, visit qc.cuny.edu/presidentialsearch.

WittKieffer is assisting The City University of New York in this recruitment. Application materials should include a letter of interest addressing how the candidate’s experiences match the position requirements, a current CV, and contact information for at least five references. References will not be contacted without candidates’ knowledge.

Review of candidates will begin immediately with first-round candidate interviews targeted for Fall 2019. For fullest consideration, applicant materials should be received by October 1, 2019. Confidential inquiries, nominations, and application materials should be directed to the college’s consultants, Lucy Leske, Philip Tang, and Christine Pendleton at QueensCollegePresident@wittkieffer.com.

CUNY encourages people with disabilities, minorities, veterans and women to apply. At CUNY, Italian Americans are also included among our protected groups. Applicants and employees will not be discriminated against on the basis of any legally protected category including sexual orientation or gender identity.
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