Siena College says its president, former Congressman Chris Gibson, will retire at the end of the current academic year. The private college in Loudonville announced the move Tuesday, saying Gibson plans to step down next summer.
Gibson, a Siena graduate and retired Army Colonel, became the college’s 12th president in July 2020, spending his early months focused on the school’s COVID-19 response.
The Republican represented New York’s 19th and 20th Congressional districts from 2011 through 2017. He briefly explored a run for governor in 2018 before returning to the classroom at Williams College and then Siena.
Gibson, who has a PhD in government from Cornell, marked a departure for the college, which broke with tradition in hiring a lay president. He had been slated to serve a five-year term. Siena did not a give a reason for his early departure. Siena has roughly 3,000 students.
In a statement, Gibson said, "While I've shared my intention to retire next summer after the completion of the academic year, there is still much to do between now and then,” Gibson said. “I am focused on leading Siena to provide a first-rate College experience, both in and beyond the classroom, and advancing and resourcing our strategic plan as we prepare our students to serve as leaders, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, to help make the world become more just, peaceful, and humane."
