D’Youville College names SUNY Oswego Provost Clemo as its next president

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A woman who is on leave as provost of SUNY Oswego will lead a Western New York college in 2017. 

The board of trustees of D’Youville College in Buffalo has named Lorrie Clemo as the school’s next president, the school announced on its website Tuesday.

D’Youville will install Clemo as its 15th president in January. 

Clemo will succeed Sister Denise Roche, whose 37-year tenure ended with her retirement on June 30, the school said.

Clemo, on leave from her role as provost and VP for academic affairs at SUNY Oswego, is currently directing the First in the World Program, a $2.9 million grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education to increase college-graduation rates among minority and low-income students.

John Amershadian, chair of the D’Youville College board of trustees, said in a news release that the board reviewed more than 60 applications and interviewed nine people, “with Lorrie having been our clear first choice.” 

“I was drawn to D’Youville because of its similarity with my own roots in Catholic education, and its mission and identity as a value-based and caring community that offers a student-centered place of learning with deep connections to the community,” Clemo said in the release. “I look forward to building on D’Youville’s tradition of excellence and strong reputation as a driver of program innovation where students have a chance to explore ideas, themselves and the world.”

Clemo said Sister Denise was “instrumental” in the development of several new academic programs that have attracted a “large number” of students since their inception. 

“Some of these include pharmacy, physician assistant, occupational and physical therapy, health care management, dietetics and chiropractic. She has also overseen the physical expansion of the campus with more than $75 million invested in new buildings and renovations,” said Clemo. 

Background
Born and raised outside of Syracuse, Clemo was the first in her family to attend college, D’Youville said. 

She attended Le Moyne College, where she earned a degree in political science in 1983. After graduation from Le Moyne, she spent a year as program director at the Bishop Foery Foundation with Catholic Charities in Syracuse, directing after-school services for inner-city youth.

Clemo later attended Binghamton University for graduate work in political science, public administration, and policy analysis, 

During her time at SUNY Oswego, Clemo was tenured and promoted in 1993, and took on administrative responsibility in 2000, serving for six years as director of the Public Administration & Policy Program and for two years as assistant to the president for Special Programs & Campus Communications. 

She spent a year as an American Council on Education fellow at the University of Rochester. Clemo in 2008 became chief of staff and deputy to the president at SUNY Oswego. 

She was later appointed interim provost and VP for academic affairs in 2010 and named to the permanent role in 2012, according to the D’Youville release. 

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com