The SUNY Board of Trustees is comprised of 18 members, 15 of whom are appointed by the Governor, with consent of the NYS Senate. The president of the Student Assembly serves as a voting member, and the presidents of the University Faculty Senate and Faculty Council of Community Colleges serve as non-voting members.
This diverse representation is also expanded on to include you, the public, holding open forums twice a year so that constituents have the opportunity to interact with the Board and provide input.
Dr. Merryl H. Tisch is one of the nation's leading voices on education. She was appointed Chair of the State University of New York in September of 2019, after serving as Vice-Chair since 2018. From 2009 to 2016, Dr. Tisch served as Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, New York State’s governing body for education.
Prior to serving as its Chancellor, Dr. Tisch was a dedicated member of the Board of Regents for twenty years and then held the position of Vice Chancellor from 2007 to 2009. While leading the Board of Regents, Dr. Tisch was responsible for setting the state’s education policy and overseeing both public and private education throughout New York. Her policies were informed by years of experience in the fields of education, community service, and philanthropy.
Dr. Tisch currently holds a number of influential philanthropic and civic positions in New York and beyond. She sits on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and acts as the Met’s representative on the Public Design Commission, and she also serves as the Chair of the Rhodes Scholarship District Selection Committee. While at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dr. Tisch endowed a Curator at Large position that has significantly impacted the museum’s ability to offer broader, more inclusive perspectives to exhibitions, collections, and programming including the recently acclaimed exhibition “the Harlem Renaissance” curated by Denise Murrell.
Additionally, she serves on the board of The Trust for Cultural Resources of the City of New York and as a Trustee of Barnard College. She sits on the executive committees of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Citizens Budget Commission.
Dr. Tisch was a member of the NYC Charter Revision Commission, and Chair Emeritus of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a leading social services agency.
In 2017, alongside her husband James S. Tisch, Dr. Tisch endowed a chair to develop the Educational Director for the New York Public Library System. This initiative was designed to revolutionize the library's educational programs, with a particular focus on literacy and digital equity. It aimed to empower the library to rethink, transform, and broaden its educational outreach.
In 2008, Dr. Tisch and her husband endowed the Tisch Cancer Institute at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center. In 2021, furthering their commitment to health and wellness, the Tisches increased their gift to $100 million to help build the Tisch Cancer Hospital at Mt. Sinai. This additional gift will facilitate the construction of a cutting-edge cancer hospital and is set to broaden access to innovative therapies, diagnostics, and clinical trials.
Dr. Tisch earned a B.A. from Barnard College, an M.A. in Education from New York University, and received an Ed.D from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. She and her husband have three children who are married and live in New York City.
Cesar Perales was appointed a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees on June 21, 2019 and reappointed in June 2021. His term expires on June 30, 2028. On September 25, 2019 Mr. Perales was designated Vice Chairman of the Board by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Mr. Perales grew up in New York City and earned a bachelor's degree from City College and a law degree from Fordham Law School.
Most recently, he served as New York State’s Secretary of State, where he was a leader in the state’s economic development, community revitalization and anti-poverty efforts. At the request of Governor Andrew Cuomo, he also established the New York Office for New Americans and the Empire State Fellows Program.
Mr. Perales became a neighborhood legal services lawyer upon graduation from law school and represented hundreds of indigent New Yorkers. He went on to be a co-founder and first head of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF), now known as LatinoJustice PRLDEF. Under his leadership, the organization brought suit against several school boards to ensure that non-English speaking students received language assistance. He also initiated successful anti-racial gerrymandering litigation in New York City. Mr. Perales also sued several jurisdictions to provide translation at the ballot box – a requirement that was subsequently made an amendment to the national Voting Rights Act.
Mr. Perales has devoted much of his life to public health and human services, serving as Assistant Secretary for Health, Education and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter; New York State Commissioner of Social Services under Governor Mario Cuomo; Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services under New York City Mayor David Dinkins and Senior Vice-President for Community Health at the New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Mr. Perales serves on the Board of Directors of Empire State Development, New York State's economic development agency. In 2018, he served as Chair of the New York City Charter Revision Commission.
Aisha Adam Bechir is a senior at SUNY at Buffalo studying economics with minors in Japanese and Law. Currently serving as her university's Student Association President, Aisha represents the 20000+ undergraduates at UB. As the child of diplomats, Aisha has grown up across 14 countries, speaks 5 languages fluently, and hopes to pursue a career in constitutional law and public policy. Aisha’s favorite thing about college is the opportunity it provides to underprivileged communities to surpass conventional barriers and achieve excellence.
Joseph W. Belluck was appointed as a member of the State University of New York Board of Trustees on June 3, 2010; and reappointed in June 2021, his term on the Board expires June 30, 2024.
He graduated in 1989 with a B.S. in Sociology from Binghamton University. Joseph W. Belluck, Esq., graduated magna cum laude from the University at Buffalo School of Law in 1994, where he later served as an adjunct lecturer on mass torts. He is a partner in the Manhattan law firm of Belluck Law, LLP, which focuses on asbestos, consumer, environmental and defective product litigation.
Mr. Belluck previously served as counsel to the New York State Attorney General, representing the State of New York in its litigation against the tobacco industry, as a judicial law clerk for Justice Lloyd Doggett of the Texas Supreme Court, and as Director of Attorney Services for Trial Lawyers Care, an organization dedicated to providing free legal assistance to victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Mr. Belluck has lectured frequently on product liability, tort law and tobacco control policy. He is an active member of several bar associations and serves as a member of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
He is also Chair of the New York State Cannabis Advisory Board.
He lives in New York City and Woodstock.
Courtney E. Burke has served in a number of high-ranking positions in state government, healthcare organizations, and boards. Her positions have included, Chief Operating and Innovation Officer at the Healthcare Association of New York State, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Albany Medical Center, New York State’s Deputy Secretary for Health as well Commissioner of the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, and Director of the Rockefeller Institute’s Health Policy Research Center.
Her accomplishments include helping hospitals across the state manage the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine roll out, obtaining grant funding to promote health equity efforts, securing a multi-billion dollar federal Medicaid waiver, obtaining significant federal funding to support people with disabilities to live in the community, and overseeing the development and implementation of strategic plans at several organizations. She currently serves on the boards of the State University of New York, The New York Health Foundation, the Center for Technology in Government’s Global Advisory Board, and she chairs New York State Autism Spectrum Advisory Board.
She has written research articles, book chapters and reviews, and op-eds on health policy matters. In 2010 she was honored as a “40 Under 40” from the Albany Business Review. She also was honored as the “Public Official of the Year” from the New York State Rehabilitation Association in 2013, and as the “Health Consumer Champion” in 2015 from Health Care for All New Yorkers. She holds a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from the State University of New York at Albany and a BA in Political Science and Journalism from the University of Connecticut.
Eric Corngold was appointed as a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees on June 20, 2013; and reappointed in June 2021, his term expires on June 30, 2028.
Mr. Corngold is a partner at Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP, leading the firm's white-collar criminal defense and investigations practice. He represents businesses, their executives, and their employees during federal and state criminal investigations, as well as in regulatory matters involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal and state government agencies. He also conducts internal investigations for corporations and other institutions on behalf of officers, boards of directors, and audit committees.
Mr. Corngold served as New York State's Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice from 2007 to 2009. Prior, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York for more than a decade. In that office, Mr. Corngold held a number of different positions, including Chief Assistant United States Attorney from 2005 to 2007, and the Chief of the office's Business and Securities Frauds Unit from 1999 to 2005. In 2003, Mr. Corngold was awarded the Henry L. Stimson Medal for outstanding contribution to the Office of the United States Attorney by the New York City Bar Association.
Mr. Corngold received his B.A. from Swarthmore College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal, and was a law clerk to United States District Judge Charles P. Sifton of the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Corngold frequently lectures on white-collar crime, securities law, and criminal procedure topics, and is currently an adjunct Professor of Law at St. John's University School of Law, where he teaches that school's course on White Collar Crime.
Marcos A. Crespo was appointed as a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees on July 23, 2020.
Marcos A. Crespo was elected to the New York State Assembly in June 2009 as one of the youngest people ever elected to the lower house of the New York State Legislature. His hard work and outcome proven approach allowed him to quickly move into leadership positions serving in various committees while also Chairing the Assembly Task Force on New Americans, Co-chairing the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, Chair of The Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force and Chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Labor.
During his tenure, he authored numerous pieces of legislation affecting policy on education, environmental justice, health, transportation, consumer protections and disaster preparedness, and much more. Amongst his most recognized accomplishments, Mr. Crespo was the prime sponsor of major pieces of legislation that where signed into State law, including: the NYS Green Light legislation, which provides drivers licenses to all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status; the codification of the Office for New Americans; the ban on salary history questioning by prospective employers in effort to end gender pay discrimination; the creation of mandated financial literacy program within the NYS Summer Youth Program; the creation of the School Energy Efficiency Collaborative Act of 2016 which created a one-stop shop for school districts looking to retrofit their buildings with green energy; and he championed a NYS investment of $1.8 billion for the redesign of the Bruckner -Sheridan Expressway in The Bronx, addressing longstanding quality of life and health disparities. In addition, he was instrumental in coordinating the New York State response to the devastating impacts of Hurricane Maria and subsequent earthquakes in Puerto Rico as a Co-Chair of The Empire State Relief & Recovery Effort for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
Mr. Crespo’s work to highlight and address generational poverty thru the $25 million dollar creation of the Empire State Poverty Reduction initiative which was preceded by his release of two reports on child and elderly poverty, statewide hearings and strong collaboration with his colleagues in the State Legislature. Mr. Crespo also helped expand and fund the work of the Albany Law School Immigrant Law Clinic which provides desperately needed legal assistance to immigrants in Upstate New York.
Mr. Crespo has been recognized by numerous statewide organizations for his leadership on public sector workforce diversity and inclusion efforts. As a member of the State legislature, he worked with the State University of New York system leadership to create and fund the Hispanic Leadership Institute (HLI) to help increase the number of Latino executive level managers on its campuses. Mr. Crespo’s secured funding for the Immigrant Integration Index program at the Center for Women and Civil Society at the Rockefeller School of Government/SUNY. The index is an interactive web-based tool that allows policymakers to measure how well immigrants are doing in ten regions of New York State.
From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Crespo also served as Chair of The Bronx Democratic County Committee. His tenure as Chair of Bronx County led to the election of diverse officials at all levels of government and particularly the election of a historic number of women to the judiciary in The Bronx. His support was instrumental also in the election of the Hon. Darcel Clark, the first African American woman to serve as District Attorney in the history of the entire state.
Upon stepping down from his elected position, Mr. Crespo joined Montefiore Health System in July of 2020 to serve as Senior Vice President for Community Affairs, a role that will allow him to continue his advocacy for improved quality of life and health outcomes for all New Yorkers.
Marcos A. Crespo was born in Puerto Rico, spent many years living, and studying in Arroyo, P.R., Lima, Peru, and New York City. He received his Bachelor of Arts from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Rochester native Robert J. Duffy began as Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce president and Chief Executive Officer January 1, 2015. Prior to working for Rochester Chamber, Duffy served as New York lieutenant governor in Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration from January 2011 to December 2014. Duffy previously served as Rochester mayor from January 2006 to January 2011 and as Rochester police chief from March 1998 to April 2005, when he resigned his post to run for mayor. He joined the Rochester Police Department in November 1976.
During his tenure as Rochester mayor, Duffy was widely recognized for reducing the cost of government, improving services, lowering tax rates, and attracting millions of dollars in private-sector investments.
As lieutenant governor, Duffy chaired the Regional Economic Development Councils aimed at rebuilding New York's economy and positioning the Empire State to be a global economic leader. Duffy also served as chair of the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission. In that role, Duffy oversaw an effort to make New York's government more modern, accountable, and efficient.
Duffy also played an instrumental role on the governor's Mandate Relief Council. He chaired a series of statewide mandate relief hearings, which sought input from local government officials and constituents on the statutory and regulatory burdens faced by local governments and school districts.
In May of 2012, the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations awarded Duffy the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. The medal honors notable American citizens who demonstrate a life committed to community service.
Duffy holds two degrees from Monroe Community College, a Bachelor of Science from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Master of Arts from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Duffy also serves on a variety of boards, including Chairman AIM Photonics Leadership Council, Center for Governmental Research, Community Preservation Corporation, Business Council of New York State, AVANGRID, and Visit Rochester.
James F. Haddon was appointed to the Board of Trustees on July 23, 2020.
James F. Haddon has worked for over 35 years in asset management and investment banking. Presently, James Haddon is Senior Managing Director for Ramirez Asset Management and Ramirez & Co. Mr. Haddon is responsible for securing municipal and corporate underwriting and brokerage assignments, as well as developing marketing strategies to increase assets under management for Ramirez’s fixed income products.
Prior to Ramirez, Mr. Haddon served as a Senior Partner and Managing Director at Public Financial Management (PFM) from 2009 to 2014, where he was in charge of all marketing and new business activities for national accounts in the asset management and financial advisor divisions. Mr. Haddon was also employed at Citigroup for over 15 years, serving in various asset management and investment banking positions. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Haddon was a Managing Director and Sales Manager in the Alternatives Distribution Group, raising assets for private equity and hedge funds. Mr. Haddon worked from 1994 to 2006 as a Managing Director in Citigroup’s Municipal Securities Division, and served as Head of the Infrastructure Group and on the Division’s Executive and Planning Committees.
Mr. Haddon has shown his commitment to public service throughout his career. Prior to joining the SUNY Board of Trustees, Mr. Haddon has served on the boards of the National Association of Securities Professionals, Wesleyan University, the Riverside Park Fund, Alzheimer’s Association, Sponsors for Educational Opportunities, and the Upper Harlem Empowerment Zone.
Mr. Haddon received his M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and his B.A. in Economics from Wesleyan University. He holds the Series 7, 53 and 63 licenses from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
James Katz was appointed to the Board of Trustees on June 10, 2025.
James Katz serves as Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Workforce to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, overseeing 11 New York State agencies and authorities and leading the state's efforts to foster economic growth, innovation, and inclusion across sectors and regions. While coordinating across agencies to ensure efficient execution and measurable results, he has helped deliver major statewide initiatives, including record public-private investments to promote prosperity and innovation, housing, and clean energy, along with policy initiatives to train, empower and protect New York's workers.
He has previously served as an Executive Vice President and the Chief of Staff at New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), helping to drive inclusive innovation and equitable growth across New York City's five boroughs. In that capacity, he was a senior officer of the corporation and played a central role in many of New York City's high profile land use, capital construction and economic development efforts. Mr. Katz was chiefly responsible for day-to-day management of NYCEDC's C-suite as well as its mission-driven investing arm, and its Government and Community Relations, Public Affairs, and Marketing departments.
A lawyer by training, Mr. Katz previously served as a Senior Advisor and Special Counsel to the New York State Attorney General, where he worked on enforcement and legislative matters related to nonprofit governance and public integrity.
Mr. Katz holds a JD from Harvard Law School, a master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a bachelor's from Brown University. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.
Eunice A. Lewin was appointed to the State University of New York Board of Trustees on February 2, 2010 and reappointed in June 2021, to a term that expires June 30, 2023.
Since 1979, Trustee Lewin has been employed as a bilingual social worker for the Committee on Special Education at the Buffalo Board of Education. Previously, she volunteered at Buffalo Catholic Charities in 1976, before being employed there for three years as a Social Worker and later obtaining a position with the Erie County Department of Social Services in the Division of Child Protection.
Trustee Lewin serves on several Boards of Directors, including as commissioner of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, founding member of Roswell Park Alliance, and member of Buffalo Urban League, Hispanic United of Buffalo and Canisus College Board of Regents. She is also a member of the Erie County Chapter of Links, Hispanic Women’s League and Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival Originators.
She was honored with the Ebony and Ivory Civic Award in 1994; inducted into The Western New York Women's Hall of Fame on March 14, 2002; and received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education in 2002; the National Conference for Community and Justice of Western New York 50th Annual Citation Award in 2003; and the Marcus Garvey Community Service Award in 2004.
Trustee Lewin was born in Guantanamo, Cuba. Her family migrated to the United States in 1967. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City before moving to Buffalo in 1976. She obtained a Master's degree in American and Puerto Rican Studies in 1978, and a Master's degree in Educational Administration in 1989, both from the University at Buffalo.
Stanley S. Litow is a professor at Columbia University. Prior to his Columbia professorship, he served as professor of the practice and Innovator-in-Residence at Duke University. Stan is the author of The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to Reward (2018) and co-author of Breaking Barriers: How P-Tech Schools Create a Pathway from High School to College to Career (2021). He authored book chapters for Yale Law Review, MIT, and Oxford Press and as columnist for Barron’s.
He previously served as President of the IBM International Foundation and as Deputy Chancellor of Schools for the City of New York. Before his IBM service and the NYC public schools, he served as president and founder of Interface and in the NYC Mayor’s Office as Executive Director of the NYC Urban Corps.
In addition to serving on multiple presidential and gubernatorial commissions, he was appointed to the SUNY Board of Trustees in June 2015 and reappointed in June 2021 for a consecutive term ending June 30, 2028; he also serves on the board of Roosevelt House, The Albert Shanker Institute, and as chair of the Council of Graduate Schools’ Employer Roundtable.
Stan helped devise P-TECH, the innovative school to college to career program, as well as the IBM Corporate Service Corps, often referenced as the corporate version of the Peace Corps.
He has received multiple awards for his community service from organizations such as the Anne Frank Commission, the Martin Luther King Commission, and the Center for an Urban Future as well as the Corning Award from the New York State Business Council.
Bruce Simon was elected president of the SUNY University Faculty Senate (UFS) in April 2025 and began his two-year term in July 2025. Previously, he served UFS as a three-time elected senator for SUNY Fredonia, as the elected representative of its Comprehensives sector, as an appointed member and chair of its Governance Committee, as its acting and immediate past vice president/secretary, on its Executive Committee, and on the organizing team for the February 2025 Public Good U conference.
Simon is Associate Professor of English at Fredonia, where he has taught exclusively since his appointment as an Assistant Professor in 1998, except for a 2006-2007 sabbatical in Fukuoka, Japan, during which he taught at Kyushu University, Seinan Gakuin University, and Fukuoka University as a Fulbright Visiting Lecturer in American Studies. At Fredonia, he served on the Executive Committee of the University Senate for 14 years; on the Executive Board of the campus chapter of United University Professions for 22 years; as chair of the Senate, English department, Contingent Employment Advisory Group, Planning and Budget Committee, and five departmental committees; and as co-chair of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, the Black History Month Coalition, two national searches for Vice President for Finance and Administration, two Middle States working groups, and two joint task forces.
Simon's teaching and research interests span U.S. literatures, American studies, Black studies, critical race/ethnicity studies, critical university studies, postcolonial studies, and science fiction and fantasy. He is interested in the contemporary significance of intertextual dialogues within and across literary periods and national borders, the literature and theory of race and trauma, the practice and politics of academic and intellectual work, the history and governance of higher education, the structure and status of the profession, and the conditions of teaching and learning.
Simon graduated as Clinton High School's salutatorian in 1987 and as Hamilton College's co-valedictorian in 1991 (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) with an A.B. in English and Mathematics. The first Hamilton student to be awarded the Beinecke Brothers Memorial Scholarship, he earned an M.A. in 1993 and Ph.D. in 1998, both in English, from Princeton University, where he served as a teaching assistant for Toni Morrison, research assistant for Arnold Rampersad, and volunteer assistant for the 1994 Race Matters conference. A recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service and the Ram Chugh/University Faculty Senate Outstanding Service Award, he was part of the team that submitted Fredonia's winning application for SUNY's first Shared Governance Award.
Simon lives in Hamburg with his wife Kuniko, two college-age daughters Chika and Maya, and two cats Nala and Tango.
Edward M. Spiro was appointed as a member of the State University of New York Board of Trustees on June 17, 2016 and reappointed in June 2021. His term on the Board expires June 30, 2027.
Mr. Spiro is a partner at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C. handling complex commercial litigation at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts, and in arbitrations, for individual and corporate clients. He has extensive experience defending civil litigation related to concurrent governmental investigations or prosecutions, including class actions, derivative cases, and other complex matters involving the securities and antitrust laws. Mr. Spiro also represents law firms and accounting firms in a variety of contexts, including on partnership issues and matters of professional responsibility and liability. He has served as an expert in the areas of legal ethics and standards of care.
Mr. Spiro is co-author of Civil Practice in the Southern District of New York, 2d Ed. (Thomson Reuters 2015), a two-volume treatise updated annually, and co-author of a regular New York Law Journal column on civil practice in the Southern District of New York. He has lectured on professional ethics for the Practicing Law Institute and for the past several years chaired a New York City Bar Association CLE program entitled "Ethics, Discipline and Real World Obligations."
Mr. Spiro is a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division, First Department. He is a member of the House of Delegates of the New York State Bar Association. He is a former director of the New York County Lawyers’ Association and former Chair of its Committee on Professional Discipline. Mr. Spiro is a former Chair of the Committee on Professional Discipline of the New York City Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a trustee of the Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon.
Mr. Spiro graduated from Colgate University, B.A., cum laude, and Boston University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, where he was a member of the Law Review.
Cary F. Staller was originally appointed as a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees on June 3, 2009 and was reappointed on June 16, 2015. His current term on the Board expires June 30, 2022. Mr. Staller is President of Staller Associates, Inc., a commercial real estate firm with offices in Hauppauge, New York.
Mr. Staller is the Secretary and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Stony Brook Foundation at Stony Brook University. Since 1988, Mr. Staller has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University. Mr. Staller previously served on the Quality Assessment Review Board of Stony Brook University Medical Center.
Mr. Staller is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Staller received his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Staller worked as an attorney specializing in real estate and tax law.
Mr. Staller served as the Mayor of the Village of Old Field from 1999 until 2008, when he retired from this position.
Mr. Staller is a member of the Bar of the State of New York. He and his wife reside in the Village of Old Field on Long Island. They are the proud parents of three children.
Candice Vacin is a SUNY triple-graduate with an associate degree from SUNY Niagara, a baccalaureate degree from SUNY Geneseo, and master's degree from the University at Buffalo.
As an undergraduate psychology major, Vacin performed research with scientists at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology and SUNY Geneseo's Department of Psychology. Upon entering the behavioral neuroscience doctoral program in the psychology department at SUNY Buffalo, she contributed to research investigating rodent models of sexual behavior, maternal behavior, and nociception. After graduate school, she was a research affiliate in the Department of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, worked in New York State politics and government, and even dabbled in stand-up comedy.
Since 2007, Vacin has been a valuable and dynamic member of the faculty at SUNY Genesee and a shared governance leader as a senator, committee chair (curriculum and educational initiatives), and executive committee member of the academic senate.
Vacin has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses on an adjunct basis for SUNY Buffalo, Niagara University, SUNY Niagara, and incarcerated students through SUNY Genesee and The University of Rochester's Rochester Education Justice Initiative (REJI). Her teaching includes the full spectrum of psychology courses, including behavioral statistics, biological psychology, and introduction to psychology. While teaching incarcerated students, Vacin was inspired to create the Information Literacy Lab, a prerelease program to strengthen cognitive skills for social competence through evidence-based scientific research.
Vacin was elected president of the Faculty Council of Community Colleges in April 2024 and appointed to the SUNY Board of Trustees on July 1, 2024. In her more than a decade of service with the Faculty Council, Vacin has served as alternate delegate and delegate representing SUNY Genesee, a member of the Faculty Council executive committee, secretary, and chair of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee. Additionally, Vacin has served as Faculty Council liaison for numerous SUNY initiatives, including the Diversity: Equity, Inclusion & Social Justice (DEISJ) Fellowship workgroup, the DEISJ General Education Advisory Committee, and the SUNY “Ban the Box” workgroup.
Vacin is the author of numerous conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. She is the recipient of the College Consortium of International Studies Scholarship, the SUNY Geneseo Department of Psychology Senior Award for Research, and the 2017–2018 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.
In addition to teaching, faculty governance, and service to SUNY, Vacin finds time to mentor students. One of her proudest accomplishments as faculty advisor to the Gay–Straight Alliance (GSA) was a semester-long antibullying collaboration with Christian Students United (CSU). This collaboration went beyond bullying education; it served as a model of civic engagement and highlighted the possibilities for what can be accomplished when civil discourse is used to work toward common goals.
In her spare time, Vacin enjoys playing the drums, data analysis, traveling, spreadsheets, C-SPAN, whiteboards, rock-paper-scissors, and living an authentic life with her wife Sara and their two Miniature Pinschers, Dr. Fauci and Fiona.
Camille Joseph Varlack is the Chief of Staff and Special Counsel to the 110th Mayor of the City of New York. She is a former partner and the chief operating officer of boutique commercial litigation firm, where she led the firm's risk and crisis management practice. Ms. Varlack represented large financial institutions and their employees, and individual clients in government investigations, and provided advice on employment and corporate governance matters.
Ms. Varlack is a former Assistant District Attorney in Kings County. She later joined AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, where she served as Assistant Vice President and Counsel and as Corporate Secretary of the broker-dealer subsidiary. Ms. Varlack thereafter returned to public service and served as principal court attorney to a New York State Supreme Court Justice as well as a Special Counsel to the Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services.
Ms. Varlack is the former Deputy Director of State Operations, Chief Risk Officer and Special Counsel for New York State. In that capacity, she managed the operations, general policy development and implementation of major policy initiatives for New York State agencies and authorities. Ms. Varlack was in charge of leading teams through statewide crises including natural disasters, storm response, potential terrorist activities and cyber attacks, as well as responding to a multitude of public health crises. As Chief Risk Officer she has helped manage audit, compliance and internal control issues for state agencies and led the development and implementation of the first statewide enterprise risk management system.
Ms. Joseph Varlack graduated from the University at Buffalo, B.A., and Brooklyn Law School, J.D..