No. 28: John Nader – Positively progressive at FSC

Student union: Interacting with students is the best part of his job, according to Farmingdale State College President John Nader (center).

On an island populated by multiple world-class colleges and universities, Farmingdale State College stands alone. 

Counted among Long Island’s top schools – and the all-world scholars who run them – are Farmingdale State and its six-year president, John Nader, a veteran of the SUNY system and former mayor of the City of Oneonta. The president, who doubles as co-chairman of the critically influential Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, has led Farmingdale State through six years of remarkable growth, including dramatic expansions of infrastructure, industry/government collaborations and academic programming, along with a student-enrollment spike that dwarfs all other SUNY schools.

In today’s episode, the highly optimistic problem-solver joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss how politics prepared him perfectly for academia – and why Farmingdale State is such a vital cog in Long Island’s socioeconomic engine.