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ECC President Quinn retires after 8 years

Posted at 12:09 PM, Aug 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-23 08:15:51-04

SUNY Erie Community College will have a new president following the school's 2017 commencement.

Current President Jack Quinn will retire at the end of the 2016-2017 school year and the college will begin a presidential transition plan.

"I've had a great career in public service and I'm proud of what I've done serving the people and the students of Western New York," said Quinn. "I'm going out on a high note and I'm pleased with ECC's progress: We break ground on a $30 million STEM building this week and our $6 million nanotechnology wing will be finished next year. This will help us meet the promise that each student walks out of our college ready to go anywhere and do anything."

A search committee is being created this week to look for Quinn's replacement.

Quinn represented Buffalo as a U.S. Congressman from 1993-2005, and has been president of ECC since 2008. Quinn also taught and coached in the Orchard Park Central Schools, worked at the Bethlehem Steel plant and was on the Hamburg Town Council, serving as supervisor for nine years.

ECC's Board of Trustees will establish a 10-month transition plan later this week. They plan to have a new president a year from now.

The search committee will include diverse representatives from among ECC professors, faculty, students, staff and unions, Erie County leaders and State University of New York educational leaders.

"Jack Quinn has done an outstanding job advocating for ECC, leading ECC, and adapting ECC to the burgeoning economic growth of Buffalo and Western New York," Board of Trustees Chair Dennis Murphy said. "Jack has always seen the big picture, set up ECC for the future and driven the college forward each day. We will miss his leadership, big humor and intimate knowledge of, and appreciation for, our community."

"I would like to congratulate President Quinn on the announcement of his retirement and thank him for his service to the ECC community," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said. "While Jack and I have not always agreed on every subject that came before us, we were able to find common ground and open lines of communication to resolve problems and move forward in a constructive manner...I thank him for his commitment to working through our differences and I wish him the best as he transitions into retirement. In the coming months I will be working with a search committee to identify a successor to President Quinn who shares not only his ability to bring people together but also his enduring commitment to creating the best Erie Community College possible."