Outstanding Leadership in Queens
2007 Honoree of the Queens Federation of Churches

Dr. Marcia V. Keizs

Dr. Marcia V. Keizs, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, attended the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada (B.A. 1967), and Teachers College, Columbia University (M.A. 1971 and Ed.D. 1984). She holds a Certificate in Educational Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (1995). Dr. Keizs has over 30 years of experience in the CUNY system as both an administrator and a teacher. Most recently she was the vice president of academic affairs at Bronx Community College/CUNY for seven years.

Dr. Keizs served on the boards of the National Council on Black American Affairs (Northeast), Teachers College Alumni Council and the Association of Black Women in Higher Education. She is the founding editor of the New York Carib News and published articles in her area of specialty, Afro American literature. She is currently chair of the board of the Morris Heights Health Center in the Bronx and a member of the Vestry of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Hartsdale, where she resides.

Effective February 14, 2005, Dr. Keizs became president of York College in Jamaica, Queens. York College, a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), offers baccalaureate degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, business, health, human service and teacher education professional programs and is the only CUNY senior college offering majors in gerontology, biotechnology, information systems management and a BS/MS degree in occupational therapy. The Aviation Institute provides courses for students interested in aviation careers and education. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is located on the York College campus.

Since coming to York College, Dr. Keizs has focused her efforts on enrollment growth, strengthening academic programs, improving administrative and academic systems and building external relationships.
York College enrolls nearly 6,000 students in liberal arts, career and professional programs on its modern 50-acre downtown Jamaica campus which includes a 6,600 square foot MicroComputer Center, a computer graphics lab and a computer music studio, as well as a 1,500-seat auditorium, a 150-seat theater, and a 160,000 volume library, which is supplemented by access to the entire City University library system.

The City University of New York, the nation's largest urban public university, includes 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, a graduate school, a law school and the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education and serves more than 450,000 degree-credit students and adult continuing and professional education students.