SUNY Fredonia has a brand new leader. Dr. Virginia Schaefer Horvath is the 13th president to lead Fredonia and was introduced to the campus Thursday.
She was recently appointed by the SUNY Board of Trustees. Dr. Horvath currently served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Fredonia. She held that position since joining the campus in 2005.
Dr. Horvath was recommended out of a pool of more than 50 candidates and five finalists. She will begin serving as president July 1st. But Dr. Horvath was officially introduced as the incoming president Thursday morning in the Reed Library on the SUNY Fredonia campus.
200-300 people attended the standing-room only event.
A formal inauguration will be held shortly after classes resume in the fall.
A Western New York native, Horvath was born and raised in Amherst, N.Y. She is a SUNY graduate, having earned a bachelor of arts in English from the University at Buffalo before continuing on to Kent State University for both a master’s and Ph.D., also in English. She joined the faculty at Kent State in 1985 and became Dean of Academic and Student Services for the regional campuses, a position she held from 2001 to 2005. Even as a full-time administrator at Kent State and SUNY Fredonia, Horvath has continued to teach undergraduate courses on a regular basis.
“There are many challenges right now in higher education, but SUNY Fredonia is in a good position to address those and to be known even more widely for our student success and campus environment,” Horvath said. “I am honored to have been recommended by the Fredonia search committee and selected by the Chancellor and Board of Trustees, and I look forward to serving the students, faculty, staff and community as president.”