SUNY appoints new president of SUNY Potsdam

POTSDAM, N.Y. — The SUNY board of trustees has appointed Suzanne Smith as the next president of SUNY Potsdam, effective April 17.

Smith will be the school’s 18th president following the death of President John Graham in 2021. Officer-in-Charge Philip Neisser will assist with the leadership transition.

Smith has served as provost and VP for academic affairs at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) since July 1, 2018. In this position, she is responsible for the academic programming and planning for the university, as well as overseeing the allocation of resources to meet programmatic priorities.

Smith is a tenured professor in GSW’s department of psychology and sociology. She has more than 25 years of experience teaching sociology and human development at the university level, SUNY said.

Established in 1816, the Potsdam campus is SUNY’s oldest college. The campus is known as a teaching school and is home to the Crane School of Music.

Recognizing Graham

In June 2021, SUNY announced the appointment of Graham as officer-in-charge at SUNY Potsdam after school president Kristin Esterberg announced plans to step down in August 2021 to become the chancellor of the University of Washington Bothell.

Not long after that, Graham died. And in December 2021, the SUNY board of trustees passed a resolution posthumously appointing Graham president of SUNY Potsdam, “in recognition of his extraordinary service and dedication to the campus prior to his recent passing,” per the SUNY Potsdam website.

With the official designation, Graham is remembered as the 17th president of SUNY Potsdam, and the first Black leader in the college’s 205-year history, the school’s website said.

SUNY in December 2021 appointed Neisser as the school’s officer-in-charge.