Bob Hanft Due To Receive
Hartwick Honorary Degree
ONEONTA – Bob Hanft ’69 of Cooperstown, ’69, former chair of the Hartwick College trustees and an Otsego County community leader, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree at the 2018 Commencement at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 19, on Elmore Field.
Also at the graduation, Trustee Virginia (Ginny) Elwell ’77 will receive a honorary doctor of laws degree, and Linda Reckhow Thomson ’72, Ph.D., M.S.N., will be awarded the President’s Award for Liberal Arts in Practice.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in economics from Hartwick in 1969, and an M.B.A. from Long Island College, Hanft spent nearly 30 years with JPMorgan Chase, eventually retiring as its chief operating officer for Global Equities. He then served as managing director at the Trinsum Group, and currently serves as managing director of the wealth management firm Strategic Financial Services.
Hanft served two full terms as a Hartwick College Board of Trustees member, with a total of 18 years of Trustee service. During this time, he served as board chair for six years, as well as vice chair and treasurer. With board service spanning three college presidencies, Hanft led the Board’s search for a new president in 2003.
Further, Hanft founded a scholarship with his wife, Patricia R. Hanft ’72, to provide financial support for students to participate in internships. The College awarded him the President’s Medal in 2006.
Committed to the role of non-profits in this region, Hanft chaired Otsego Now, the economic-development agency, and served on the boards of Pathfinder Village, Otsego 2000, Hyde Hall, Friends of Bassett, and the Community Board of the Bank of Cooperstown. He is also a member of Cooperstown Rotary.
As a former employee of Hartwick, I can say that Mr. Hanft was always unfit to be a trustee at a liberal arts college. He routinely expressed contempt toward the liberal arts mission, faculty members, and academia in general. The fact that he is being awarded an honorary degree by a college president who comes from a business, rather than liberal arts academic background, tells you all you need to know.