Presidents
Otto V. Guenther, 1953 - 1965 Otto Guenther was selected in 1953 to be the first president of the newly established Hudson Valley Technical Institute. In 1957, President Guenther received approval from the Rensselaer County Board of Supervisors to begin construction of a new campus on the border of Troy and the town of North Greenbush. That transition to a newly created suburban campus and the growth of the student body were Guenther’s legacy as president.
James J. Fitzgibbons, 1965 - 1979 James Fitzgibbons presided over impressive growth in the college’s student body and in the number of academic programs offered. During his tenure, Hudson Valley’s curricula grew from 18 to 38 academic programs. Five new buildings on campus also were completed during the Fitzgibbons presidency. The Fitzgibbons Health Technologies Center was dedicated to the president in 1982.
Joseph J. Bulmer, 1979 - 1996 The longest-tenured president of the college, Joseph J. Bulmer served Hudson Valley for 17 years. A nuclear engineer with a distinguished career at General Electric, Dr. Bulmer was responsible for increasing the college’s image in the Capital Region. The establishment of distance learning, a Center for Effective Teaching, expanded services for disabled students and the addition of the McDonough Sports Complex, Cogan Hall, Fitzgibbons Health Technologies Center, the Hy Rosenblum Administration Center and the Bulmer Telecommunications Center were accomplished during Bulmer’s presidency.
Stephen M. Curtis, 1996 - 1998 Dr. Stephen Curtis came to Hudson Valley Community College after serving as interim president of Borough of Manhattan Community College. While at Hudson Valley, Dr. Curtis led improvements to the college’s distance learning program and helped link the college to several high schools around the region through interactive television. Dr. Curtis currently serves as president of the Community College of Philadelphia.
John L. Buono, 1998 - 2003 The only alumnus to serve as president of Hudson Valley Community College, John Buono had a lengthy career in public service before accepting the offer to serve as interim president of his alma mater. Buono served as Rensselaer County Executive from 1986 to 1995 and was then tapped by Governor George Pataki to head the New York State Dormitory Authority, where he served as director for three years. Buono’s tenure as president of the college saw the creation of the Viking Child Care Center, Guenther Enrollment Services Center and the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. He also established the college’s Workforce Development Institute, which provides non-credit, customized training for business and industry. He currently serves as chairman of the NYS Thruway Board of Directors.
Marco J. Silvestri, Interim President, 2004 - 2005 Prior to serving as interim president, Dr. Silvestri served as the college’s vice president for administration since 1984. During Dr. Silvestri’s tenure, the college received reaffirmation of its accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Universities.
Andrew J. Matonak, 2005 – Present “Drew” Matonak assumed the presidency on April 18, 2005. Prior to arriving at Hudson Valley, he served as president of Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, Iowa, for three years.
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Famous quotes containing the word presidents:
“Governments can err, Presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted in different scales. Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the constant omission of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“All Presidents start out to run a crusade but after a couple of years they find they are running something less heroic and much more intractable: namely the presidency. The people are well cured by then of election fever, during which they think they are choosing Moses. In the third year, they look on the man as a sinner and a bumbler and begin to poke around for rumours of another Messiah.”
—Alistair Cooke (b. 1908)
“A president, however, must stand somewhat apart, as all great presidents have known instinctively. Then the language which has the power to survive its own utterance is the most likely to move those to whom it is immediately spoken.”
—J.R. Pole (b. 1922)