SUNY Chancellor Johnson Announces Staff Appointments at System Administration
February 12, 2019
Chief Diversity Officer and Affirmative Action Officer join SUNY Leadership Team
Albany – State University of New York Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson announced today the appointment of Teresa A. Miller as Senior Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Diversity Officer, and Jennie Marie Durán as system Affirmative Action Officer.
Miller will lead Chancellor Johnson’s new PRODI-G (Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Growth) initiative, which is designed to increase diversity amongst faculty ranks and guide campus hiring practices. She will also take over the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) with the retirement of Carlos Medina. She will report directly to Chancellor Johnson.
Durán will support SUNY’s 64 campuses on all affirmative action programs, and ensure that requirements are met for affirmative action, equal employment, and Title IX.
"At SUNY, I have witnessed a tremendous growth in resources and focus on diversity, particularly leading up to and following the passing of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy," said SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall. "It is vital that our organization has strong leadership to continue this momentum. I am pleased Teresa Miller will help us do so in her newly expanded role, and welcome Jennie Marie Durán to the SUNY team."
"Our thanks to Carlos Medina who is retiring after serving as the system's founding chief diversity officer since August 2011. During his tenure, Carlos advanced our goals to build a more diverse and inclusive system, strengthening the intersection between diversity and academic excellence. We extend our best wishes to him in his retirement," Chairman McCall added.
"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core elements of everything we do at SUNY, and as our student population has become increasingly diverse over the past ten years, we must also quicken the pace with which we employ a diverse faculty and staff," said SUNY Chancellor Johnson. "Teresa Miller worked directly with me as we developed PRODI-G to narrow the gap between student diversity and faculty diversity, and I am looking forward to having her lead this initiative. My heartfelt congratulations to Teresa as we implement this critical program."
"We welcome Jennie Marie to SUNY. Her experience in affirmative action and Title IX policy and law will be a significant resource for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and for our campuses. It is critical for SUNY to safeguard our values of diversity and inclusion at every level, and we look to Jennie Marie to boost our efforts further," said Chancellor Johnson.
About Teresa Miller
Since joining SUNY from University at Buffalo in January 2018, Miller has assisted Chancellor Johnson with leadership and direction of strategic initiatives. She was also responsible for overseeing and managing the Office of the Chancellor as chief of staff. While at University at Buffalo, she was vice provost for Inclusive Excellence and chief diversity officer. Miller was tenured and promoted to the rank of full professor of law at the campus.
Previously, Miller worked as a securities litigation associate at Davis, Markel & Edwards; a judicial law clerk to the Honorable William M. Hoeveler at US District Court, Southern District of Florida; and as a visiting associate professor, and lecturer at the University of Miami School of Law.
Miller has a bachelor of arts degree from Duke University, a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School, and a master of laws degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Her appointment is effective immediately.
About Jennie Marie Durán
Jennie Marie Durán will begin March 15 as system Affirmative Action Officer reporting to Miller. Durán has significant experience in affirmative action, equal employment opportunity, Americans with Disabilities Act, diversity management, as well as policy and law. She has served at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S. Department of State, and Northern Arizona University, as well as within a public counsel law center in Los Angeles that had dedicated programs for children’s rights and homelessness prevention.
Durán was also a tribal lawyer for the Havasupai Nation in Arizona and the President of the Association for Chicanos in Higher Education (AACHE).
Durán has a bachelor of arts degree from Northern Arizona University and a juris doctor degree from University at Buffalo Law School. She has certifications in EEO Counseling, EEOC Investigation, and is a Certified Diversity Management Professional from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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