NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:  Thursday, May 12, 2016

SUNY Contact: Holly Liapis; Holly.Liapis@suny.edu; 518-320-1311 

SUNY and Nassau Community College Announce Appointment of Dr. W. Hubert Keen as President of NCC 

Albany – The State University of New York and Nassau Community College today announced the appointment of Dr. W. Hubert Keen as president of NCC. The appointment was approved at a special meeting of the SUNY Board of Trustees today and by the Board of Trustees at the campus earlier this week.

Dr. Keen has served as the president of SUNY's Farmingdale State College since 2007. His NCC appointment is effective August 1, 2016, at an annual salary of $225,000.

"Hubert Keen is a seasoned higher education professional whose leadership within our university system as well as the Long Island community makes him ideally suited to serve as Nassau Community College's next president," said SUNY Board Chairman H. Carl McCall. "I commend the Board of Trustees at the college for his appointment and look forward to our continued work together on behalf of the NCC community."

"I have every confidence that Dr. Keen's leadership of Nassau Community College will serve as an important and impactful turning point for the campus, one that will greatly benefit NCC's students, faculty, and staff," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. "I want to thank Interim President Dolan for his leadership as well as Dr. Gardyn and the Board of Trustees at the college and the presidential search committee for their dedication to getting this appointment exactly right."

"Dr. Keen brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Nassau Community College," said Dr. Jorge Gardyn, Chair of the Nassau Community College Board of Trustees. "The Board is excited about working with our next president. We look forward to a new era of growth and advancement."

"I am honored that the Nassau Community College Presidential Search Committee, NCC Board of Trustees, Chancellor Zimpher, and the SUNY Board of Trustees have offered me the opportunity to work with this very important institution," said Dr. Keen. "While this opportunity is not one I anticipated, it is one I am pleased to embrace, and am honored to be entrusted with NCC's leadership."

About Hubert KeenDr. W. Hubert Keen became president of Farmingdale State College in January 2007 after serving for two years as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Farmingdale and, from 1999 to 2005, as special assistant to the SUNY Provost. He previously held positions as interim president at SUNY Old Westbury, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at CUNY's York College, and professor and dean of Arts and Sciences at SUNY Cortland.Dr. Keen's research, which spans the fields of ecology, environmental science, aquatic biology, and biostatistics, has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Research Foundation for SUNY, the University of Virginia's Biological Station Research Program and other agencies. Dr. Keen was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, a U.S. Public Health Service Fellowship, and a Fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service.

Dr. Keen holds a Bachelors of Arts in biology from Pikeville College, an M.S. in biology from Eastern Kentucky University, and a Ph.D in ecology from Kent State University.

About Nassau Community College Nassau Community College is an institution where almost 20,000 full- and part-time students and approximately 10,000 continuing and professional students start and continue their successful journey through higher education. More than 70 fields of study are offered on a 225-acre campus located in the center of Long Island. As the largest single-campus two-year college in New York State, Nassau Community College maintains a national reputation for excellence. For more information, visit www.ncc.edu.

About the State University of New YorkThe State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, with 64 college and university campuses located within 30 miles of every home, school and business in the state. In 2014-15, SUNY served nearly 1.3 million students, including nearly 600,000 in credit bearing courses and programs and nearly 700,000 through continuing education and community outreach programs. SUNY students and faculty across the state make significant contributions to research and discovery, resulting in nearly $1 billion of externally-sponsored activity each year. There are 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree are SUNY alumni. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.###