Dr. Darrell P. Wheeler has been appointed President of SUNY New Paltz. The statement was announced by the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Stanley and is effective July 18, 2022.
“Dr. Wheeler is not just an exceptional leader, but has dedicated over three decades of his career to tackling inequities within healthcare and education, ultimately providing a much-needed voice to the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities,” said SUNY Interim Chancellor Deborah F. Stanley. “SUNY New Paltz has built a reputation of academic excellence, and being welcoming and inclusive, and Dr. Wheeler is poised to continue that legacy. With his passion for creating more equitable systems within higher education and beyond as well as his professional record of admirable institutional governance, we are pleased to have Dr. Wheeler join the SUNY community. We greatly thank SUNY New Paltz Presidential Search Committee Chair Ron Law for leading the search process and President Donald P. Christian for serving the New Paltz community for over a decade.”
Dr. Wheeler currently serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Iona College. Prior to that, he served as Dean of the School of Social Welfare and Vice President for Public Engagement at the University at Albany, Dean for the School of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago, and has held academic positions at Hunter College, CUNY, Columbia University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Dr. Wheeler has more than 30 years of research and community partnership experience in health disparities research with extensive scholarly work with local and national black men who have sex with men (MSM) communities. While at the University at Albany, he was Co-PI on the NIMHD S21 Health Disparities Research Capacity and Resources grant entitled Endowment for Community-Based Health Disparities Research and Training, which was administered at UAlbany’s Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities (CEMHD), a previous NIMHD-funded P20 and R24 Center.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be named New Paltz’s ninth president and to join a campus community I have already come to respect and admire,” said Dr. Wheeler. “I look forward to working together with students and colleagues at New Paltz to advocate for the value of a liberal education tailored to 21st-century needs and build upon the institution’s core values of access, integrity, inclusion, social justice, leadership and excellence. Given its success in advancing the social mobility of its graduates, its geographic distinctiveness and its stature within the SUNY system, SUNY New Paltz is poised to leverage profound opportunities even in this moment of rapid change. My thanks to the SUNY Board of Trustees, Chancellor Stanley and SUNY New Paltz College Council for this opportunity, and to the community of Iona College for their commitment to my success as an academic leader.”
Current President Dr. Donald P. Christian said, “Dr. Wheeler brings an impressive array of experiences and achievements to this new role. I am pleased and excited to be passing the leadership baton to him. During my interview with him, I was impressed that he thinks “presidentially” even as he will be new to the role. I will do everything I can to support his success — including as he pursues new initiatives and directions needed for the success of the College in a dramatically changing higher education world.”
Join the family! 
