CUNY and Hunter College Announce New Appointments

The following is a letter sent Monday, April 6 by President Jennifer J. Raab to the Hunter College community:

CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken and the CUNY Board of Trustees have announced the appointment of our extraordinary Provost, Dr. Vita Rabinowitz, as Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost of CUNY. Vita Rabinowitz's leadership has been integral to the great success of Hunter College over the past decade. Her commitment to high academic standards, faculty well-being, and student achievement, as well as her integrity, vision, and tireless devotion to our institution, made her a remarkable partner. As Provost, she has helped to strengthen and grow our undergraduate and graduate programs and research opportunities, build a culture of assessment of student learning, enhance professional education, strengthen Hunter’s research infrastructure and library, and above all, support Hunter’s outstanding faculty. Her appointment by Chancellor Milliken is a testament to her exceptional record of achievement at Hunter.

Vita has been a true friend and partner, and I am grateful for her sound counsel and collaboration. While I—and all of Hunter—will deeply miss Vita, we celebrate CUNY's good fortune in gaining a dynamic Provost with an expansive breadth and depth of experience, and an intimate knowledge of and passion for CUNY's mission. We are fortunate that this next career step allows her to stay very much engaged in Hunter’s exciting trajectory. Although her daily absence from our campus will be felt deeply, we know she will have an important and far-reaching impact on Hunter's and CUNY’s success as our new University Provost.

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Lon Kaufman as our new Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Many of you had the opportunity to meet Lon when he visited campus as a finalist for our Dean of Arts and Sciences search. The feedback we received from faculty, students and administrators across our community was universally supportive of Lon, recognizing his intellectual depth and remarkable record of administrative accomplishments. Lon is an accomplished biologist, and has been affiliated with the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) for nearly 30 years serving in a variety of administrative positions including Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, Vice Provost for Planning and Programs, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, Dean of the Honors College, and Head of the Department of Biological Sciences. He is deeply committed to public urban education, and his breadth of experiences as a senior administrator overseeing both the arts and sciences, coupled with a comprehensive knowledge of professional education, have prepared him well for the range of responsibilities as Hunter’s Provost.

His many successes at UIC include introducing a popular general education program, improving enrollment, retention and graduation rates, and implementing innovative programs to support faculty development and streamlined tracks to tenure and promotion. Lon is a native New Yorker who attended Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn College, graduated from Queens College with a BA in Biology, and earned a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from SUNY, Stony Brook. (Please click here for his full CV.) We are very pleased to welcome Lon to the Hunter family.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Andrew J. Polsky has been appointed the Ruth and Harold Newman Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. Andy has served admirably as the Acting Dean of the school since 2013 and played an important role leading Hunter’s strategic planning process. As Acting Dean, and in his more than 30 years at Hunter, he has worked tirelessly to make sure we design and deliver the best education possible for our students. At the same time, he has been a strong advocate for faculty, creating innovative programs and supporting existing initiatives while balancing unprecedented expansion into new academic and research spaces like those at the Weill Cornell Belfer Research Building. In the spirit of “One Hunter,” Andy has developed partnerships and collaborations with our professional schools to support their degrees, and is a true partner to his fellow Deans. Andy has remained an active scholar in Political Science, and brings sensitivity to the often competing demands of teaching and scholarship. Andy clearly understands the culture, mission, history and challenges of the School of Arts and Sciences.

Please join me in congratulating Vita Rabinowitz and Andy Polsky on their new positions and welcoming Lon Kaufman to the Hunter family.

Jennifer J. Raab