Dr. Allen Lee Sessoms was the eighth President of Queens College, serving from Fall 1995 through Spring 2000. He was the first Black president of Queens College.
“A physicist and former diplomat has been named president of Queens College and a State Supreme Court justice will take over as dean of its law school.
Dr. Allen Lee Sessoms, now an executive vice president of the University of Massachusetts system, will start his new job as president on Aug. 1.
...‘Dr. Sessoms’ unique combination of public service, diplomatic and scientific backgrounds...will be rich contributions to the intellectual life of Queens College,’ said James P. Murphy, chairman of the City University of New York.
...Dr. Sessoms, who was born in the Bronx and graduated from high school there, is the first black [man] to be named president of the college. In a telephone interview, he said the cost-cutting need of the times had helped entice time to head the City University’s second largest campus.
‘It’s time to have a paradigm change in higher education,’ said Dr. Sessoms, who is also the vice president for academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts. ‘The budget cuts has galvanized people. Queens College has the very best students. One can build research even in tough times.’
Dr. Sessoms will succeed Stephen M. Cutis, who has been serving as acting president of Queens College and will return to his job as a senior administrator at Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Education: Union College, Bachelor of Science in physics, 1968; University of Washington, Master of Science in physics, 1969; Yale University, Master of Philosophy in Physics, 1971; PhD in physics, 1972.
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“...Sessoms formally announced his resignation last Friday, amid the current controversy over the AIDS center and many questions regarding the status of his recent presidential review.
His resignation comes two months after an independent panel of educators conducted a standard five-year evaluation of his presidency and a month after another independent committee of scientists reviewed the current status of the Salick Center.
In a press release from the Queens College Office of News and Information Services, Sessoms’ decision to resign came as a result of “significant new opportunities becoming available which he feels he should explore at this point in his career.”
He also stressed the fact that his resignation will allow him to spend more time with his family. “Separated from my family, including my two young daughters, it has been an extremely difficult while productive five years,” he stated in the press release.
... His announcement came only four days after a special meeting, called by Board of Trustees chairman Herman Badillo, was cancelled.
According to unnamed sources, the special meeting was called in an effort to discuss Sessoms’ presidential review report. This report was initially to be discussed in executive session during the regularly scheduled Board of Trustees meeting on March 24.
Sessoms will finish his fifth year in office and his resignation will take effect Aug. 31. In conversations with CUNY officials, an interim president will begin on Sept. 1. A search for a permanent president has not even been discussed yet, said Board of Trustee member Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, but he believes that Chancellor Matthew Goldstein will start a search as soon as possible.
...‘He was a very dynamic, innovative president,’ said Burton Backner, Dean of Students. ‘He promoted ideas and energy and has improved the visibility of the college.’ Yet, Backner added, ‘He has had a mixed relationship with the faculty.’”
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