Hartwick College selects Reisberg as next president

ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Hartwick College board of trustees has tapped Darren Reisberg as the college’s 11th president.

Reisberg, who is currently executive VP and chief strategy officer at the Joyce Foundation, will take office at Hartwick on Aug. 1.

“President-elect Reisberg is the best choice to lead Hartwick at this critical point in the college’s 225-year history,” David H. Long, chair of the Hartwick board of directors, said in a news release. “Building upon the outstanding foundation that Margaret L. Drugovich has established during her 14-year tenure as Hartwick’s president, we believe the college’s innovative FlightPath approach to education provides a compelling and distinctive vision for its future. As the next president of Hartwick, Darren Reisberg will be charged with continuing that trajectory while navigating the complexity of leading a nationally ranked college.”

Reisberg’s current employer, the Joyce Foundation, is a private foundation based in Chicago that invests in policies to advance racial equity and economic mobility in the Great Lakes region.

Before joining the foundation, he was VP for strategic initiatives and deputy provost at the University of Chicago, where he managed the Office of the Provost’s operations, administered the faculty governance system, and drove strategic planning and fundraising efforts. He also led the coordination of the university’s K-12 education initiatives, including the Urban Education Institute, and oversaw various units such as the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation and the Smart Museum of Art. Reisberg also served as the VP and secretary of the university, where he was the primary administrative liaison to the university’s board of trustees. In this role, he developed and supported governance practices for the University of Chicago Medical Center. He was also the first executive director of the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.

Since 2019, Reisberg has served as the governor-appointed chair of the Illinois State Board of Education, which oversees K-12 programming in more than 850 school districts.

Prior to his career in education, Reisberg served as a clerk for Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer of the U.S. District Court in Illinois. He practiced law at the Chicago firm of Sidley Austin LLP.

Reisberg received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Duke University and his law degree from Yale Law School.

Reisberg will replace Drugovich, who will retire at the end of July. Serving as Hartwick president since 2008, she led the college through a number of future-focused innovations such as the launch of its three-year degree option, the implementation of the FlightPath approach to education planning, and the development of the Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation, the Clark Simulation Nursing Laboratory, and the Center for Craft Food and Beverage, per the release. Drugovich has also led strategic investment efforts resulting in record growth in financial contributions from alumni and philanthropic donors. Under her guidance, the college has invested $45 million in campus improvements.