Trustees

Founded in 1847, the forerunner of today’s City University of New York was governed by the Board of Education of New York City. Members of the Board of Education, chaired by the President of the board, served as ex-officio trustees. For the next four decades, the board members continued to serve as ex-officio trustees of the College of the City of New York and the city’s other municipal college, the Normal College of the City of New York.

In 1900, the New York State Legislature created separate boards of trustees for the College of the City of New York and the Normal College, which became Hunter College in 1914. In 1926, the Legislature established the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York, which assumed supervision of both municipal colleges.

In 1961, the New York State Legislature established the City University of New York, uniting what had become seven municipal colleges at the time: The City College of New York, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Staten Island Community College, Bronx Community College and Queensborough Community College. In 1979, the CUNY Financing and Governance Act was adopted by the State and the Board of Higher Education officially became The City University of New York Board of Trustees.

Chairs of the Board