CUNY NAMES DR. DAISY COCCO DE FILIPPIS AS
INTERIM PRESIDENT OF HOSTOS
Becomes First Dominican Woman President of a CUNY Community College
The Board of Trustees of The City University of New York voted to appointed Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis as interim president of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College.
CUNY announced three appointments in top leadership positions of three distinct CUNY institutions, representing the range of educational opportunity provided by the nation’s leading urban public university.
To serve as the interim president of Hostos Community College, the trustees named Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis, president of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut and a CUNY alumna and former Hostos provost. She will be the first Dominican woman to serve as president of Hostos, one of CUNY’s seven community colleges and an important educational anchor in the Bronx for more than 50 years. Dr. De Fillipis will succeed Hostos President David Gómez, who recently announced his plans to retire.
“I am thrilled that our national searches brought us such dynamic educators and leaders as we look to rebound from the challenges of these uncertain times,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “And I am delighted to welcome back Daisy Cocco De Filippis, a pioneer in Dominican studies who had great success advancing opportunities for low-income students in Connecticut.”
Daisy Cocco De Filippis has been the president of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Conn., since 2008, a tenure that brought recognition to the school as one of the nation’s top community colleges in advancing opportunities for low-income students. Her new appointment brings her back to Hostos, where she served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs from 2002 to 2008, and to CUNY, from which she earned her academic degrees: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Queens College and a Ph.D. in Spanish language and a Master of Philosophy in Spanish literature from the Graduate Center. She spent the first 20 years of her academic career at CUNY’s York College, starting as an adjunct lecturer, rising to tenured professor of Spanish before moving on to leadership roles. She served as chair of the Faculty Caucus and then Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Dr. De Filippis’s scholarly work is recognized internationally for pioneering the field of Dominican women studies and Dominican authors in the U.S. She was elected last year as a member of the New England Commission of Higher Education. She also serves on numerous educational boards including the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System High School Board, the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, the advisory board of the Dominican Studies Institute at City College and the board of the Dominican Studies Association.
“My heart is filled with gratitude for the invitation to come home to CUNY and Hostos Community College,”
Dr. De Fillipis said. “Hostos is a bridge of opportunity over the Grand Concourse that gives hope to one of the nation’s poorest communities. For 50 years it has embraced the challenge of its mission of increasing access, equity and quality. I look forward to working with talented and innovative faculty and staff on behalf of students as we bounce back from COVID-19.”
She will begin her tenure at Hostos August 1, 2020.
Read CUNY's press release
here.