Dr. Horvath is currently the Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Fredonia, a position she has held since joining the campus in 2005. She was recommended out of a pool of more than 50 candidates and five finalists by a 15-member search committee and SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. She was officially appointed by the SUNY Board of Trustees at a board meeting held earlier today, and will begin serving as president on July 1. In doing so, she will become the first female president in the Fredonia campus' 186-year history. A press conference to officially introduce the incoming president will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 29 in Reed Library on the SUNY Fredonia campus. A formal inauguration will also be held shortly after classes resume in the fall of 2012, at a date and place to be determined. A Western New York native, Horvath was born and raised in Amherst, N.Y. She is a SUNY graduate, having earned a bachelor of arts in English from the University at Buffalo before continuing on to Kent State University for both a master's and Ph.D., also in English. She joined the faculty at Kent State in 1985 and became Dean of Academic and Student Services for the regional campuses, a position she held from 2001 to 2005. Even as a full-time administrator at Kent State and SUNY Fredonia, Horvath has continued to teach undergraduate courses on a regular basis. “As vice president for academic affairs at SUNY Fredonia for the past seven years, Dr. Horvath will bring great insight, knowledge, and leadership to the presidential post,” said SUNY Board Chairman H. Carl McCall. “We are pleased that she has agreed to serve as the first female president of SUNY Fredonia and look forward to working more closely with her in the future.”
“Dr. Horvath’s proven commitment to improving higher education in Western New York will serve her well in her new role as president of SUNY Fredonia,” added SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “She has an impressive legacy of leadership that I am confident she will continue to build upon at the college, and I know she will exceed the expectations of students, faculty, staff, and alumni alike.”
Horvath’s scholarship includes more than a dozen critical articles and books, in addition to numerous poems and reviews. She has presented and given workshops at more than 70 regional, national and international conferences. A recipient of Kent State’s Distinguished Teaching Award, she has academic specialties in medieval literature, British literature, children’s/young adult literature, and poetry. Dr. Horvath was a Visiting Professor at Shimane University (Japan), a Fellow of the American Council on Education, and a Protégé of the Millennium Leadership Initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Her service to her profession and to her current and previous campuses is also well known. She was the driving force behind the creation of the Fredonia Academic Community Engagement (FACE) Center, which connects student learning and pedagogy with opportunities to serve and positively impact the Western New York community. Under her leadership, SUNY Fredonia also added the Office of Student Creative Activity and Research, the Professional Development Center and several new academic programs. “On behalf of the Fredonia College Council and the Presidential Search Committee, I wish to congratulate Dr. Horvath on her selection as the next president of SUNY Fredonia,” added the Hon. Frank A. Pagano, who served as chair of the search committee in addition to his continuing role as chair of the Fredonia College Council. “She stood out as exceptional among our candidates, and performed well at every stage of the review process. She is clearly passionate about this campus and its students, and I have no doubt that she will represent the college proudly and effectively.”
Her selection concludes a thorough, national search, aided by the nationally recognized search firm of R. H. Perry & Associates, which began in September 2011 and drew candidates from across the U.S.
|
Dr. Virginia Schaefer Horvath (at right) has been appointed by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY) as the 13th president of SUNY Fredonia.