Interim president named for WCU

Posted by Press Release on January 21, 2016

The Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education has appointed Dr. Christopher M. Fiorentino, vice president for external operations at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, to serve as the university’s interim president, effective April 1.

The selection of Fiorentino, who has served in his current position since 2013 and previously spent a decade as dean of WCU’s College of Business and Public Affairs, was made in consultation with West Chester University’s Council of Trustees Chair Thomas A. Fillippo, a university press release said.

“Dr. Fiorentino has been at West Chester for more than 20 years, as a faculty member, a dean and a vice president. He has a firm understanding of the university and its mission,” Board of Governors Chairman Guido M. Pichini said in the release. “We are confident he will continue to provide strong leadership to the institution while we search for a new, permanent president.”

Fiorentino, who earned a bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. in economics, all from Temple University, joined the economics faculty at West Chester in 1983 and was named dean of the College of Business and Public Affairs in 1993. He has been active in numerous leadership roles on campus, helping to secure AACSB International accreditation for the School of Business; developing off-campus academic centers, including the Graduate Center in West Goshen Township and the Philadelphia Center; and working with faculty and supporters to create the Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center.

He also has represented the university throughout the region, including serving as a member of the West Chester Business Improvement District Board, leading a task force that recommended improvements to Chester County’s budgeting and financial management processes; and launching the Center for Community Solutions, which connects regional government and nonprofit organizations with WCU experts to address community needs, the release said.

Fiorentino will become interim president at West Chester upon the departure of Dr. Greg R. Weisenstein, who announced his intention to retire at the end of March, having served as president since March 2009. A search for a permanent president for West Chester will begin later this year, the release said.

West Chester University, with an enrollment of more than 16,600 students, is the largest university in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. It was founded in 1871 as the privately owned West Chester Normal School. It was the first of the normal schools to become state-owned in 1913. The university currently offers nearly 200 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.