SUNY Board of Trustees Appoints Presidents at Empire State College and Columbia-Greene and North Country Community Colleges
May 8, 2019
Albany – State University of New York Board of Trustees today appointed Dr. Jim Malatras as president of Empire State College, Dr. Carlee Drummer as president of Columbia-Greene Community College, and Joseph Keegan as president of North Country Community College.
About Dr. Jim Malatras
Dr. Malatras is currently president of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, where he is leading the Institute’s modernization effort to offer policymakers evidence-based policy analysis and recommendations on timely topics. Dr. Malatras previously served as SUNY system administration’s vice chancellor for policy and chief of staff.
He has held several high ranking positions in New York State. Most recently, Dr. Malatras served as director of state operations. He also served as Governor Cuomo’s deputy secretary for policy management. Additionally, Dr. Malatras served as the executive director of the New NY Education Reform Commission from 2012-2014.
Dr. Malatras holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, where he received the Presidential Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award. He also holds a masters and bachelors of arts in political science from the University at Albany. His appointment is effective July 15, 2019.
About Dr. Carlee Drummer
Since 2014, Dr. Carlee Drummer has served as the president of Quinebaug Valley Community College (QVCC). The college is located in one of the more economically challenged areas in Connecticut, and serves approximately 1,500 full and part time students, and more than 2,000 students taking non-credit, workforce, or personal development courses.
Under her leadership, QVCC established a food pantry to assist students facing food insecurity; opened a 10,000 square-foot, LEED Silver Certified Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center; introduced new academic programs in cyber security, mechatronics, and medical laboratory technician; and partnered with General Electric to install 2,500 solar panels on campus, saving the college an estimated $1.75 million over 20-25 years. During her time at QVCC, no student has graduated with federal student loan debt.
Dr. Drummer earned both her doctorate and masters of arts in English from SUNY’s Stony Brook University, and received her bachelors of arts, magna cum laude, from Wittenberg University. She attended the Seminar for New Presidents at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Her appointment is effective July 8, 2019.
About Joseph Keegan
Since 2014, Joseph Keegan has served as the vice president for Academic Affairs at North Country Community College (NCCC). Prior to his appointment to this role, Keegan was employed in administrative positions of increasing responsibility, including as the coordinator of Human Services Programs and as the grant liaison for the Perkins CTE Grant and the Tri Lakes Prevention Coalition. In addition to these administrative roles, Keegan has served as an instructor at NCCC in various titles since 1994, most recently, as an associate professor.
Keegan is also recognized as a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, and has leveraged this training and background to inform his work as the coordinator of the Human Services programs at NCCC. He served on a team that developed NCCC’s AAS program in Chemical Dependency Counseling, helping to train local students to bring meaningful supports and interventions to individuals and families suffering from addiction.
Keegan earned a bachelors of arts in anthropology from SUNY Potsdam, and a masters of arts in anthropology from the University at Albany. He is also a proud graduate of North Country Community College, earning an associates of arts in liberal arts from NCCC in 1989. His appointment is effective June 16, 2019.
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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