Peter O. Nwosu

Dr. Peter Nwosu (the “N” is silent), American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow and Fulbright Scholar, was named on June 6, 2023, as the 11th President of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego, effective August 15, 2023, by the SUNY Board of Trustees at the recommendation of SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. He is SUNY Oswego’s first Black president. Established in 1861, SUNY Oswego is one of the 64 campuses of the State University of New York, the nation’s largest system of public higher education. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs at the main campus in Oswego and the branch campus in Syracuse.

A passionate advocate for access to high quality education for our nation’s increasingly diverse student body, Nwosu served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Success at Herbert H. Lehman College, one of 25 campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY), the nation’s largest urban public university system. He also served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Clark Atlanta University (CAU), Atlanta, Georgia, a private residential Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Accreditation Liaison Officer at California State University, Fullerton, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and one of the 23 campuses of the California State University System, and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Planning, and Assessment and Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Planning at Tennessee State University, Nashville, one of the then 27 campuses of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the nation’s 6th largest public higher education system. He led strategic initiatives to foster institutional effectiveness, advance student success outcomes, and enhance these institutions’ national reputation and visibility as engines of upward mobility and regional economic development.

Nwosu began his career in higher education as a faculty member at California State University, Sacramento, rising through the ranks to become tenured full Professor of Communication Studies. A nationally recognized teacher-scholar of intercultural and international communications, Nwosu served as journal editor, presented at regional, national, and international conferences, and authored/co-authored more than 100 scholarly writings, including three books, refereed journal papers, book chapters, and training manuals. A graduate of the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, he earned his Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Howard University in Washington, D.C.  He serves on numerous national boards, including as chair of the board of directors of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), a nonprofit research and advocacy organization committed to promoting access and success in higher education for all students, member, American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Advisory Board on Academic Innovation and Transformation, and the Sacramento-based California Urban Partnership (CUP).