Virginia Schaefer Horvath has been appointed vice president for academic affairs at SUNY Fredonia, effective July 1. As the chief academic officer, she will oversee the public university’s 109 degree programs and 450 faculty, and the education of more than 5,000 students, 400 of whom are studying at the graduate or post-graduate level.
 
Currently the dean of academic and student services for the seven regional campuses of Kent State University in Ohio, Dr. Horvath holds the Distinguished Teaching Award from Kent State, where she taught English since 1985 and coordinated the English programs for the regional campuses.

SUNY Fredonia President Dennis L. Hefner announced her appointment following a national search conducted by a committee of SUNY Fredonia administrators, faculty, staff, and students. "I am very pleased to welcome Dr. Horvath to Fredonia," President Hefner said. "She has a proven record of understanding the issues facing academia today, such as shifting state support for higher education, changes in financial aid, changes in student demographics, and increased emphasis on learning outcomes and assessment." In addition to presiding over the academic content of all Fredonia’s programs, she will be responsible for the university’s Reed Library, Information Technology Services, the Rockefeller Arts Center, international education, continuing education, non-credit services, institutional research, and campus assessment.
 
A native Buffalonian, Dr. Horvath grew up in Eggertsville and graduated from the Buffalo Seminary in 1975. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from SUNY Buffalo, and her master’s degree and doctorate from Kent State. She has traveled extensively, and studied and taught in Kenya, China, India and Japan.
 
In 2001, Dr. Horvath was appointed to her current position and since then has coordinated all academic programs and student services for the Kent State regional campuses, working with more than 40 departments and serving more than 12,000 students. In 2003, she also began serving as special assistant to the president for strategic planning. In addition to her academic appointments, she remained a professor of English at the university.
 
In 2002-03, she was one of 36 people selected nationwide by the American Council on Education (ACE) for its Fellows Program, spending a year as an ACE Fellow at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. The ACE Fellows Program is considered the nation’s premier higher education leadership development program.
 
Dr. Horvath is married to Dr. Brooke K. Horvath, a professor of English at Kent State. Their children are: Emily Carroll (22), Caitlin Carroll (20), Susan Horvath (17), and Jordan Horvath (14).
 
Paul F. Schaefer, her father, lives in Eggertsville. Her mother, Mary Joyce Schaefer, is deceased.