Presidents • Donald Grunewald (1972–1984); Merle King (1984–1985; interim) •
Wilbert J. LeMelle (1985–1990) •
Jay Sexter (1990–1999) • Lucie Lapovsky (1999–2004) • Kimberly Kline (2008–2013) • Timothy Hall (2014–2023) • Susan L. Parish (2023–present)
Notable faculty and staff •
Thomas J. Abinanti, American politician, lawyer, and member of the New York State Assembly from Greenburgh, New York. •
Fernando Cabrera, American politician in the Bronx, New York. A Democrat, he currently represents the 14th District in the New York City Council. Formerly program director for the Mental Health and Counseling program at Mercy College •
Hind Rassam Culhane, lawyer, social and behavioral scientist •
Ira Joe Fisher, winner of two regional Emmys •
Emmanuel Gyimah Labi, Ghanaian composer, conductor, and music professor. •
Adma d'Heurle, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, one of five original faculty members of the college •
Matt Kilcullen, Director of Athletics •
Wilbert J. Le Melle, American diplomat, author and academician. Former President of Mercy College •
Joseph Thomas O'Keefe, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Syracuse from 1987 to 1995. •
Frank Rodriguez, an American former professional
baseball pitcher who played in
Major League Baseball •
Barbara Boucher Owens, American computer scientist •
Victor M. Pichardo, a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly. Former associate director of Public Relations at Mercy College. •
Alfred S. Posamentier, American author and educator •
Judson Rosebush, director and producer of multimedia products and computer animation, an author, artist and media theorist. •
Arthur Rothstein, recognized as one of America's premier photojournalists. •
Boria Sax, American author and lecturer •
Mark Skousen, American economist and writer. •
Rick Wolff, book editor, author, college coach, broadcaster, and former professional baseball player. •
Daniel Callahan, professor of psychology at Mercy University. Played a leading role in developing the field of biomedical ethics as co-founder of
The Hastings Center, the world's first bioethics research institute. •
Donna Gabaccia, an American historian •
Esther Rolick, an American painter
Notable alumni Mercy University had more than 70,000 alumni as of 2023. Alumni in politics and government include
Jamaal Bowman, American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for since 2021;
Pasquale J. D'Amuro, American terrorism
authority, former intelligence agent and television analyst. In a career of 26 years he rose to the third position of the
FBI;
Robert Cornegy, New York City Council Member for the 36th District, representing Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights in Brooklyn;
Mike Kavekotora, Namibian politician and member of parliament. He is the president of the
Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP);
David Rosado, American politician from New York;
Maria del Carmen Arroyo, the former Council member for the
17th district of the
New York City Council;
Anna Cowin, former Lake County School District superintendent and served in the
Florida State Senate;
James Reitz, American judge and politician from
Putnam County, New York;
Mary Donohue, an American retired educator, attorney, politician and Judge of the
New York Court of Claims and a former two-term
Lieutenant Governor of New York;
Patricia Ann Tracey, retired United States naval officer and the first woman to be promoted to the rank of
vice admiral in the
United States Navy ; and
Rosario Green, Mexican economist, diplomat and politician. Prominent alumni in business and finance include
Mark Zuckerberg, self-made billionaire, chairman, chief executive officer, and co-founder of Facebook;
George Gallego, a world ranked para-triathlete and entrepreneur;
Michele Quirolo, President and chief executive officer of The Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley;
Carolyn Kepcher, businesswoman who was one of the judges on the
NBC television program
The Apprentice;
Walter Anderson, former publisher and CEO of
Parade Magazine;
Noreen Culhane, an American businesswoman and current executive vice president of the
New York Stock Exchange, directing their Global Corporate Client Group; and
Anne Sweeney, American businesswoman. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors at Netflix, LEGO A/S, and the board of trustees at the Mayo Clinic and the J.P. Getty Trust. She was formerly the co-chair of
Disney Media Networks and President of the
Disney–ABC Television Group, and the President of
Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014. Alumni in the arts and media include
Gabourey Sidibe, Academy Award-nominated actress;
Olivia Peguero, contemporary landscape and botanical artist;
Leopoldo Minaya, poet;
Alicia Barney, a Colombian artist based in
Cali who focuses her paintings and installation art on ecological questions and problems such as water pollution, deforestation and quality of life;
Patricia Breslin, an American actress and philanthropist;
Allys Dwyer, an American actress who became a college educator;
Clarence Maclin, an American actor known for his role in
Sing Sing;
Claire Porter, American choreographer/comedian known for blending
comedic monologues with dance movement;
Mercedes Ruehl, American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an
Academy Award, a
Golden Globe Award, a
Tony Award, a
Drama Desk Award, two
Obie Awards, and two
Outer Critics Circle Awards;
Myra Turley, an American film and television actress; Angela Cascarano,
Emmy award–winning TV news producer;
Maria Mercader, an American journalist and
news producer who worked for
CBS News for over three decades. For her work producing a CBS feature report about
computer spam, Mercader won a business
Emmy Award in 2004;
Sandra Uwiringiyimana, author;
Joan Wolf, author of more than 15 historical novels;
Camille Marchetta, a former London
literary agent, is a novelist, television writer and producer best known for her work on 1980s prime time soap operas
Dallas,
Dynasty and
Falcon Crest; and
Dorothy Kilgallen, an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. Notable figures in the field of education include
Paul Broadie, president of
Housatonic Community College and
Gateway Community College;
Gregory Howard Williams, 27th President of the
University of Cincinnati, and the 11th President of
the City College of New York;
Meisha Ross Porter, an American educator who served as the
New York City Schools Chancellor; Anthony Mullen, 2009 National Teacher of the Year award winner;
Madeleine Blais, an American journalist, author and professor in the
University of Massachusetts Amherst's journalism department;
Julia Ching, professor of religion, philosophy and
East Asian studies at the
University of Toronto ;
Regina Peruggi, an American educator, who was the President of
Kingsborough Community College from 2005 to 2014. Prior to that, she was president of
Marymount Manhattan College and led the
Central Park Conservancy;
Teresa P. Pica, Professor of Education at the
University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education;
Darlene Yee-Melichar, professor and coordinator of the
gerontology program at
San Francisco State University where she also serves as Director of Long-Term care Administration;
Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Cuban-American theologian who served as professor emerita of ethics and theology at
Drew University in
Madison, New Jersey; and Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo, President of
Columbia Theological Seminary. Alumni in science and medicine include
Paule Valery Joseph, an American nurse and researcher at the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She is the 2022
National Academy of Medicine and
American Academy of Nursing Fellow;
Emmeline Edwards,
neurochemist serving as director of the division of extramural research at the
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. She previously researched the neural mechanisms of complex behaviors and characterization of a genetic model of
affective disorders at the
University of Maryland, College Park. From 2000 to 2010, Edwards was deputy director of the extramural program at the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke;
Mary Jane Perry, an American oceanographer known for the use of optics to study marine phytoplankton;
Kathleen Ethier, American
social psychologist and
public health official with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2016, she was appointed the Director of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health in the
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention; and
Margaret C. Snyder, American
social scientist. Alumni in sports include
Garvin Alston, retired American professional baseball right-handed
pitcher who played in
Major League Baseball (MLB);
Dewey Bozella, former amateur boxer;
Laura Creavalle, professional female bodybuilder;
Rob DiToma, head baseball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University;
Simone Forbes, Jamaican sportswoman, having represented Jamaica in no less than five sports;
Stan Jefferson, former
center and
left fielder in
Major League Baseball who played for the
New York Mets among others;
Brian Sweeney, former
MLB pitcher;
Wesley Walker, former
NFL wide receiver;
Mookie Wilson, former
MLB outfielder/ coach; Joel Serrano, Puerto Rican footballer;
Michael Collins, an American former professional soccer player who played as a
midfielder. Collins played for at least twelve teams in nearly half a dozen leagues over his seventeen-year career. He also earned two
caps with the
United States national team in 1988. Collins currently serves as president and general manager of
California United Strikers FC;
Jude Flannery, an American
triathlete who won six consecutive US national championships between 1991 and 1996; and Mary Etchells, first and only woman to win the Star Worlds sailboat racing world championship. Other notable alumni include two
Fulbright Scholars;
Jon-Adrian Velazquez, American criminal legal reform activist;
Rosemary Dempsey, noted American Activist, has served many roles in second wave feminism, civil rights movements, and anti-war protests;
Aulana L. Peters, a retired partner at the law firm of
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; and
Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III,
Ghanaian traditional ruler who is the
Omanhene (or
paramount chief) of the
Akuapem traditional area (Okuapeman) in Ghana. ==See also==