Dr. Nancy Cantor, current chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark, was named the 14th president of Hunter College on Tuesday.
Cantor takes office on August 12, 2024, replacing current interim president Dr. Ann Kirschner at CUNY’s largest college.
“Over the next few months, I look forward to working closely with Dr. Cantor to ensure a seamless transition,” said Kirschner in an email sent to the Hunter community on Tuesday night. “Together, we will collaborate to uphold Hunter College’s student-centered values while embracing new opportunities for growth and innovation.”
Cantor, who has had a 40-plus-year career in higher education, has two parents who are CUNY alumni, including her mother who was a part of Hunter’s Class of 1943.
Cantor holds a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University. She started her higher education career as a professor of psychology at Princeton University, later shifting to the role of department chair, according to a CUNY press release.
Subsequently she became the first woman chancellor of Syracuse University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Rutgers University-Newark.
Throughout her several positions as chancellor, Cantor has been praised nationally and internationally for her focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in education. She has overseen projects at Rutgers-Newark and Syracuse for partnerships between collegiate institutions and the local communities they reside in.
“I am eager to collaborate with communities across New York City to highlight how higher education can answer the call of what the public needs, now and going forward,” said Cantor. “On a personal level, coming to Hunter and CUNY allows me to carry on a family legacy.”
“An iconic New York City institution like Hunter College requires a leader who is a champion of social mobility and an innovative thinker, someone ready to address ongoing challenges and embrace emerging opportunities on Day 1,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “We have found this and more in Nancy Cantor.”
Cantor will be the 17th permanent leader of a CUNY college.
