Presidential search

They met with the dean of Community Colleges of the State University of New York (SUNY) to discuss what could be done. An Action Committee was formed comprising Warren and Washington county citizens, who then surveyed local students and their parents to determine their educational needs.

In 1960, the Action Committee presented its recommendation to Warren and Washington counties' Boards of Supervisors, asking that they jointly sponsor the new college. The resolution passed, and in June, formation of the college was approved by the Trustees of the State University of New York. In fall of that year, Adirondack Community College was selected as the official name of the future college.

SUNY Adirondack was founded in 1961 as Adirondack Community College. (We changed our name officially in 2010.)

The ACC Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Charles R. Eisenhart as president of the college. A location on Lower Main Street in Hudson Falls was selected as the temporary campus location, with physical education classes taking place in the nearby YMCA facilities.

ACC opened its first day of classes with 215 students enrolled full time. 

In 1963, Glens Falls Insurance Co. gave Adirondack Community College 141 acres of land on Bay Road in Queensbury, which became the college's permanent site. The college moved to its new campus on Bay Road after the close of the summer sessions in August 1967.

In 1971, the college was accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a prestigious standing it maintains today.

After two decades of offering classes in Saratoga County, SUNY Adirondack in 1995 opened Wilton Center, allowing students in Saratoga County easier access to some classes. In 2012, the college moved in to SUNY Adirondack Saratoga, which in 2024 was granted campus status by the State University of New York, so degrees can be earned entirely at that facility.

In 2012, the Culinary Arts program moved in to its own building. In 2018, the program moved again, this time to its current location at 14 Hudson Ave., Glens Falls, where the college operates Seasoned, a student-run fine-dining restaurant. 

Through a partnership with Adirondack Housing Association, SUNY Adirondack opened a 400-bed residence hall, complete with residential suites, classrooms and a fitness center in 2013. This made it easier for students from outside the immediate area to attend the college and expanded SUNY Adirondack's reach to the Capital Region, the greater New York City area and beyond.

In 2016, Adirondack Hall was constructed, including a two-story, 20,000-square-foot Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) wing, a 16,000-square-foot Workforce Development and Continuing Education center, nursing simulation suite and labs, a large convention space, an interior greenhouse, a salt-water aquarium, science laboratories with fume hoods and a vegetative rooftop deck.

After making several updates to the Gymnasium, in 2023, SUNY Adirondack opened a new turf field that accommodates baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse. The field has been lauded as one of the best in the NJCAA and increases opportunities for the region's sports-tourism market. 

The Board of Trustees announces Kristine D. Duffy, Ed.D., will retire in July 2025.
 

Read more

The Board of Trustees announces its selection of a candidate search firm.
 

Read more