Board of Trustees Approves the Appointment of George Gatta, Jr. as Interim President of Suffolk County Community College

New York City – The SUNY Board of Trustees today approved the appointment of George Gatta, Jr. as Interim President of Suffolk County Community College, at an annual salary of $200,000, effective February 20, 2009, until a new president takes office, as approved by the Board of Trustees of that College.

The Suffolk County Community College Board of Trustees determined that the best qualified individual to serve as Interim President was Mr. George Gatta, Jr., the College’s Executive Vice President, and voted to appoint him to the post at its January 15 meeting.

Board Chairman Carl T. Hayden said, “It is my pleasure to support the appointment of George Gatta, Jr. to this position. I am confident that his experience at the college and with the faculty staff and students, Mr. Gatta will be a very good stand-in while the search for a permanent president continues.”

Officer-In-Charge John J. O’Connor said, “I congratulate Mr. Gatta on this much deserved appointment.   I would also like to salute Dr. Shirley Pippins for her many years of service and dedication as Suffolk’s president. She will be missed by her colleagues on campus and across the State University.”

“I am honored by my appointment to serve as the interim president of Suffolk County Community College and I appreciate the confidence in my leadership that is being expressed by the SUNY Board of Trustees and Vice Chancellor O’Connor,” said Gatta.  “Suffolk County Community College is a strong institution thanks to the outstanding effort of the faculty and staff.  I look forward to working with our campus and community constituencies to advance the mission of the College and manage the institution for the benefit of our 23,000 students.”

About George Gatta, Jr.

An alumnus with a degree in business, Mr. Gatta has served as Executive Vice President of Suffolk County Community College since 2007.  In this capacity, he oversees the day-to-day operations of the college.  He develops and administers plans and budgets, oversees the College’s legal affairs, secured $1.7 million in federal grant funding for the expansion of the Advanced Manufacturing training program, coordinated the development of the new Culinary Arts Center and secured funding to equip and support it, provided leadership to the Banner computer conversion, and supported the development of the SCCC Leadership Institute.

From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Gatta served as Vice President for Workforce and Economic Development/Government Affairs Officer at Suffolk Community College. He led the Advanced Manufacturing initiative, securing $2.4 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to fund a regional industry and education training consortium, led the Downtown Center initiative, secured $5.2 million in funding to support a program with seven regional hospitals to expand the College’s nursing program, structured a public-private partnership to develop a new culinary Arts and Hospitality Center facility in Riverhead, and secured $3 million from the NYS Assembly to fund small capital improvement projects on campus.

Prior to joining Suffolk County Community College, Mr. Gatta had a long and distinguished career in the field of economic development, where he served as Suffolk County’s Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and Planning (1992 to 2003), Town of Islip Executive Director of the Community Development Agency (1990 to 1992) and Town of Islip Executive Director of the Economic Development division (1984 to 1990). 

Among his many accomplishments are the development and financing of Suffolk County’s Ballpark, the development of the Touro School of Health Sciences facility, securing funding for development of the Federal Courthouse, implementation of regional tourism marketing, working with other agencies to create a Long Island regional economic development strategy, planning a Long Island economic summit, negotiating for the preservation of the Pine Barrens area of Suffolk County, developing a tax abatement program for local industries, and led a $20 million effort to develop affordable housing in Suffolk County.

George Gatta, Jr. has made numerous presentations on community college workforce development and community and economic development before various audiences.  He has received numerous awards, the most recent being the 2007 Vision Long Island Smart Growth Award.  He has been an active member of the community, currently serving on the Advisory Board of the Calverton Business Incubator/SUNY Stony Brook and on the Board of Advisors of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island.

About Suffolk Community College

Suffolk Community College is the largest community college in the SUNY System, enrolling 22,000 students at its three campuses in Selden, Brentwood and Riverhead.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 440,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

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