Joe Bertolino knew nothing about Lyndon State College when he was asked to apply for the open position of president. Bertolino is a higher education management expert from New York. He earned his PhD at Columbia and wasn't even looking to leave Queens College when this job opened up. But he quickly identified how this would be a perfect fit for him and how Lyndon State fills an important role in higher education. Students at Lyndon, he said, frequently go there because it is what they can afford. He said there are also many "first in family" college students. He stresses that a college education is important beyond the skills learned and insisted that society has a moral imperative to educate its youth.
A video interview with Dr Bertolino can be found HEREor go to www.vermontbiz.com/videos to see this and all videos. Bertolino was interviewed by Editor Timothy McQuiston on August 14 at the offices of Vermont Business Magazine in South Burlington. Also sitting in was LSC's Bob Whittaker, Dean of Institutional Advancement.
Bertolino Bio
LEFT: Joe Bertolino on the Lyndon State campus. ABOVE. A first-year himself, Bertolino joins in orientation with freshmen.
Dr Joe Bertolino recently began a new appointment as the 15th President of Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vermont. Prior to his arrival at Lyndon, Dr. Bertolino served as Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Student Personnel at Queens College/City University of New York from 2004-2012. Dr. Bertolino also served as the Dean for Community Development at Barnard College of Columbia University, and has worked in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania state higher education systems and the SUNY system.
During 2010-2011, Dr. Bertolino served as a Fellow with the American Council on Education at the University of Houston System, under the mentorship of Chancellor Renu Khator, and at the University of Texas at Brownsville, under the mentorship of President Juliet Garcia.
Administrative leadership in higher education has been Dr. Bertolino’s passion for the past twenty years. Beyond Lyndon State College, Dr. Bertolino is an author, lecturer, and teacher, having presented hundreds of programs to tens of thousands of students at over 600 colleges and conferences nationwide. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters, and is the co-author of Let The Games Begin, A Guide For Peer Mentors, (2012) with Dr. Ruth Frisz. Dr. Bertolino has been recognized with numerous outstanding professional awards from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA), The Association of Fraternity Advisors (AFA), and the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA). Campus Activities Magazine named Joe ‘Best Diversity Artist’in 2007 and the American College Personnel Association presented Joe with the prestigious Annuit Coeptis Award. Recently his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Scranton, presented him with the 2011 Frank O’Hara Award in Education, the highest award given jointly by the University and the National Alumni Society.
Dr. Bertolino’s research interests include student immigration (with an emphasis on undocumented students and the DREAM Act), campus community development, campus social change, leadership development, service learning, multicultural world views, and LGBTQ student issues. He earned his Doctorate in Higher Education Administration and Organizational Leadership from Columbia University, Teachers College in 2003, a Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University in 1990, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Scranton in 1986.
Dr. Bertolino serves on the Alumni Board of Governors of the University of Scranton, as Past-President of the Board of Directors for the YMCA of Southern New Jersey, a National Delegate for the YMCA of the USA, a Board Member for the American Red Cross of Queens County, and a District Commissioner and former National Vice President for Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. Dr. Bertolino lives with his partner of nineteen years, Bil Leipold, and his two dogs, Livingston (a Corgi) and Wanamassa (a Shih Tzu) and a cat named Zander. His greatest joy is his EIGHT Godchildren ‘Christian, Evan, Kevin, Nathan, Tara, Teresa, Remick, and Matthew.