A historic milestone took place on Friday, Sept. 27, as Peter O. Nwosu was officially inaugurated as the 11th president of the State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego).
The event marks the first time an African-born president and an immigrant will lead the 163-year-old institution.
Nwosu, is a scholar from Umudioka in Anambra State, Nigeria. He is expected to bring a transformative vision to the university
The inauguration ceremony held on Friday in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall, named after the institution’s previous president.
Nwosu had officially assumed his duties as president since Aug. 15, 2023.
Dr. Peter O. Nwosu, an American Council on Education fellow and Fulbright scholar, joined SUNY Oswego from CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College, where he was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and student success. He previously served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Clark Atlanta University, a historically Black college or university (HBCU) and Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution, and served as associate vice president for academic programs and accreditation liaison officer at California State University, Fullerton, a Hispanic-serving institution and one of the 23 campuses of the California State University System.
A passionate advocate for access to high-quality education for US increasingly diverse student body and a systems thinker and strategic planner with a strong belief in the power of collaboration and shared governance, Dr. Nwosu has led strategic initiatives to advance equity-minded student success outcomes, foster institutional effectiveness, and enhance these institutions’ national reputations and visibility as engines of upward mobility and community engagement.
Dr. Nwosu is a graduate of the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education and received his PhD in communication studies from Howard University, his MA in liberal studies from Towson University, and his BA in mass communication and journalism from the Institute of Management and Technology in Enugu, Nigeria.