By David Gordon, Managing Editor
This week, University President Stuart Rabinowitz announced the appointments of new Deans for both the School of Communications (SOC) and the Frank G. Zarb School of Business.
Dr. Evan W. Cornog, previously an associate dean at Columbia University School of Journalism and press secretary for former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch, will begin his tenure at the SOC on July 15, 2010.
Dr. Patrick J. Socci, the current Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration at Fordham University, will take the helm of the Zarb School on July 1. He will be taking over for current dean Salvatore Sodano, who will become the Senior Executive Adviser to the President for Corporate Relations.
Socci felt the lengthy, though "very, very thorough and very transparent" interview process was "a great source of information" and was happy to have gone through it. "I know a lot of people at Hofstra now, and come July 1 when I start, I'll be ahead of the curve."
He is greatly anticipating moving the Zarb School forward and increasing the number and improving the quality of the students. "What I saw during the interview process…was that everybody agreed unanimously that we could be doing better," Socci said. "The current dean has done a great job; he got the school moving in the right direction. What we need to do is maintain [this] and quicken the pace."
Cornog's plans for the SOC correspond with Socci's. "I think that the University and the School both can have a bigger profile in the world. That's something that President Rabinowitz is working on. I look forward to working in that direction, too," he told The Chronicle.
One of his goals is to try and broaden what he calls "the circle of communication" around the SOC and the University. "The School of Communication covers so many disciplines, you can really have conversations across categories, to really kind of promote conversation across the disciplinary boundaries and between the school and other departments around Hofstra."
The University's students and faculty, whom they had opportunities to meet during the interview process, impressed both men.
"What I saw among the students was a wonderful respect for each other," Socci said. "I can't tell you how many times the students held the door for me, said hello. I said, ‘Boy, this is a very friendly place.'"
Cornog, meanwhile, was "tremendously impressed," with the University's spirit.
"I think it's tremendously important to keep the needs and interests and concerns of the students at the very front of your understanding; that's part of my style of educational leadership," Cornog said. "I hope to find lots of ways of being in regular contact with all the different kinds of students who make up the School of Communication and other students" at the University.
Dr. Evan Cornog (Photo courtesy of newmedia.andrewgruen.com)
Dr. Patrick J. Socci (Photo courtesy of Fordham University)