Governor Cuomo Announces the Appointment of Dr. Merryl Tisch to Serve as Vice Chair of SUNY Board of Trustees
March 6, 2018
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the appointment of Dr. Merryl H. Tisch to serve as Vice Chair of the State University of New York Board of Trustees. Dr. Tisch has served on the SUNY Board of Trustees since June 2017. She is one of the nation's leading voices on education, having served at the helm of the Board of Regents, New York State's governing body for education, from 2009 to 2016.
"Dr. Tisch is a leading, innovative voice in education policy, and I am proud to appoint her to this new role to ensure SUNY's role as the pinnacle of excellence in higher education," Governor Cuomo said. "She brings decades of experience and expertise to the position, and I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman McCall and Dr. Tisch to move New York's higher education system forward."
SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall said, "Dr. Merryl Tisch has influenced education policy through her civic and philanthropic positions, and she continues to build on her experience at SUNY with a focus on academic standards coupled with a keen sensibility toward fiscal responsibility. It is my pleasure to congratulate her on being named vice chair of SUNY's Board of Trustees."
SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson said, "SUNY is the largest higher education system in the United States. Ensuring a high quality education and a supportive environment is a tremendous responsibility and one that is achieved through strong governance at all levels. Dr. Tisch is a valued member of the board of trustees, and a strong advocate for our students. I have quickly relied on her partnership, and value her perspective on our work ahead."
Dr. Tisch was a member of the Board of Regents for twenty years and held the position of Vice Chancellor from 2007 to 2009. As Chancellor of the New York State 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, including her work as a first-grade teacher at New York City's Ramaz School and the B'nai Jeshurun School.
She currently holds a number of philanthropic and civic positions, including serving on the board of the International Rescue Committee and as co-chairperson of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a leading social services agency. In addition, Dr. Tisch is on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and acts as the Met's representative on the Public Design Commission. She also sits on the executive committees of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Citizens Budget Commission, and serves on the board of The Trust for Cultural Resources of the City of New York and the Graduate School of Education's Board of Overseers at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Tisch founded the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital in 2008. She holds 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.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, 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 2022, 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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