Siena President Chris Gibson ’86 joined the leaders of Russell Sage College, Hudson Valley Community College and Excelsior College to explore key issues in higher education at a June 23 Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Kate Manley ’09, president of the Rensco chamber, welcomed the guests to their first large-scale, in-person business gathering since the start of the pandemic.
Former Siena board chair John F. Murray ’79 moderated the panel and called the Capital Region’s powerful base of 22 colleges and universities “the envy of economic development throughout New York State.” Murray asked the presidents to discuss their institutions’ new programs, the development of talent, and current challenges in the higher ed ecosystem.
“In a highly competitive market it’s important to know who you are as an institution. We’re soulful people at Siena, and we are developing servant leaders. There is a difference between education and training: education means to lift up others, to ask questions of the first order.
Siena’s focus is to develop the mind, body and spirit of its graduates. Our agility in responding to the needs of the marketplace is illustrated by the fact that one third of our students are enrolled in majors we did not offer as recently as five years ago.”
Chris Gibson '86, Ph.D., president
President Gibson is honored with Columbia County’s “Good Scout” Award
President Gibson is the 2021 recipient of Columbia County’s “Good Scout” Award. The recognition is presented to those who “exemplify in their daily life the ideals of the Boy Scouts of America as expressed in the Scout Oath and Law." Recipients are chosen for their outstanding community service, as evidenced by their leadership to many worthwhile organizations, as well as the respect and esteem in which they are held by their colleagues. The honor was bestowed during a ceremony at Birch Hill Estate on June 17.
President Gibson was a Scout for approximately five years in Troop 113, which still serves youth in Kinderhook. He started as a Cub Scout, and was then promoted to Webelos, and then Boy Scout.