After ten months as Keuka College’s interim president, Amy Storey will be taking on the role permanently, the College’s Board of Trustees Chair Alan Ziegler announced today.
“This afternoon, the Board voted to offer Amy Storey the role of President,” Mr. Ziegler said in a letter to the College Community. “I am pleased to announce that she accepted our offer.”
President Storey is the 20th person – and third woman – to lead the 129-year-old private, liberal arts college. She was named interim president on July 1, 2018, following the retirement of President Emeritus Dr. Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera.
“I’m honored that the Board of Trustees has placed its faith in me and thrilled at the opportunity to continue to lead Keuka College forward,” said President Storey.
The College instituted a national search that drew more than 100 applicants. The independent manager of the search, Walter Critchley of Eastwood Executive Search, met with more than 100 College constituents to determine the institution’s presidential needs. He determined that many of the qualities being sought by the College were already in evidence through the work of President Storey, and the Search Committee and Board of Trustees agreed.
“In ten months,” he reported to the Board of Trustees, “Amy has managed to right the ship and garner a level of stakeholder support that any leader would envy.”
The Search Committee interviewed President Storey and two outside candidates before recommending the College move forward with her appointment.
“The Board of Trustees is pleased with the upward momentum at Keuka College in areas ranging from the College’s finances, to its institutional culture, to its academic quality,” said Mr. Ziegler. “With so much progress having been made, the Board believes that we were searching for a leader whom we already have.”
In the ten months since assuming the presidency, President Storey has restructured the Executive Cabinet and established a College Cabinet. She has led those groups in, among other achievements:
- Changing ways in which the College conducts business
- Raising retention rates
- Exceeding new student enrollment projections
- Reframing the work of the College’s Adult and Online Education program
- Exploring new programs, partnerships, and leadership for international programs
- Restructuring the College’s debt
- Continuing to bring attention to matters of diversity and equity
- Hiring a new facilities provider to better address student concerns
- Supporting the enhancement of student activities, including the College’s upcoming move to the Empire 8 athletic conference
President Storey joined Keuka College in 2013 as its chief advancement officer and was the vice president for advancement and external affairs before succeeding Dr. Díaz-Herrera. She previously held positions at the University of Rochester, Binghamton University, Merrill Lynch, and Manning and Napier.
Keuka College Presidents
Rev. Dr. George Harvey Ball
First President, 1890-1904
Rev. John Chester Ball
Second President, 1904-06
Rev. Dr. Zephaniah A. Space
Third President, 1907-09
Rev. Arthur Braden
Fourth President, 1909-10
Rev. Joseph A. Serena
Fifth President, 1910-15
Dr. Arthur H. Norton
Sixth President, 1919-35
Dr. J. Hillis Miller
Seventh President, 1935-41
Dr. Henry E. Allen
Eighth President, 1941-46
Dr. Katherine Gillette Blyley
Ninth President, 1947-58
Dr. William Spencer Litterick
Tenth President, 1959-65
Dr. Wilbour Eddy Saunders
11th President (Interim), 1965-66
Dr. G. Wayne Glick
12th President, 1966-74
Dr. William L. Boyle, Jr.
13th President, 1975-78
Dr. Eric J. Stettner
14th President (Interim), 1978
Dr. Elizabeth Woods Shaw
15th President, 1978-83
Dr. Arthur F. Kirk, Jr.
16th President, 1983-96
Frank P. Strong, Jr.
17th President (Interim), 1997
Dr. Joseph G. Burke
18th President, 1997–2011
Dr. Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera
19th President, 2011-18
Amy Storey
20th President, 2018-
