To the Faculty and Staff of BMCC:
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Robert C. Messina, Jr., who will come on board August 19 to serve as Acting Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at BMCC, pending approval of the CUNY Board of Trustees.
Dr. Messina recently retired from Burlington Community College (BCC) in Pemberton, New Jersey, where he served as President from 1987 to 2012. He grew up in New York City, and earned a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics at City College. Next, he completed his M.A. in Inorganic and Quantum Physical Chemistry at Hunter College, and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at Fordham University.
In many ways, Dr. Messina comes from a community college environment that reflects our own. He understands the critical academic issues at hand, in providing a quality education at an affordable price—to a student body that has changed in demographics and tripled in just a few decades.
He has also worked hard, as we have at BMCC, to create competitive new degree programs and transfer articulation agreements, in response to the goals of today’s students. In fact, his unwavering support of strategies to ensure degree completion resulted, at BCC, in innovative partnerships enabling students to complete their associate degree while earning a bachelor’s degree from Drexel University and others—all without leaving the BCC campus.
Under Dr. Messina’s guidance, BCC also established two additional campus locations, and ten new campus buildings. One example is BCC’s Center for Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts, which houses associate degree programs in culinary and pastry arts. In addition, he established the use of high-end computerized patient simulators for nursing students.
These are just a few of Dr. Messina’s accomplishments in his 25-year tenure as President at BCC. But I also want to talk about his early years as an instructor. From knowing Robert through our association with the Middle States Commissions on Higher Education and other groups centered on community college instruction and challenges, I can attest to how much he respects and loves college teaching.
Before serving as VP of Academic Affairs at Broome Community College and Dean of Instruction at Nassau Community College, Robert started his career teaching in a number of colleges. He believes in the value of learning outside the classroom, and used New York City as a laboratory, inspiring our next generation of resource managers and urban planners. He has taught physics, engineering, and developed instructional strategies that use technology to help students overcome ‘math anxiety’.
Bottom line, Robert Messina believes everyone deserves a chance to pursue higher education and build a better life. He has told me himself that if he hadn’t started his education at CUNY—which was free at the time—he’d be loading freight on a dock somewhere, today. He’s committed to opening the doors of education to our students, and keeping them open. I’m sure his term as Acting Provost and Sr. VP of Academic Affairs will yield many benefits to the BMCC community. I hope you will get to know him in his time here.
Sincerely,
Antonio Pérez
President
