Mayor Nader Runs For President…

of Herkimer Community College, That Is

By LIBBY CUDMORE • HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Edition of Nov. 28, 2014

SUNY Delhi provost wasn’t looking for a new opportunity when he opened his email in September. “I got an inquiry that piqued my interesting,” said John S. Nader. “I went ahead and applied to it.”

The former Oneonta mayor saw that Herkimer County Community College was seeking a new president, and he immediately applied. “Their program mix is consistent with the skill set I’ve tried to apply to SUNY Delhi,” he said. “They have a wide range of students from across the state and internationally, and they’re a leader in online education.”

And on Monday, Nov. 24, he got the news that he has been selected as one of the four finalists for the position. “I’m flattered that they’ve taken an interest in me,” he said.

The other three are Eunice Bellinger, vice president/academic affairs, Niagara County Community College; Stuart T. Blacklaw, vice president for instruction and student services, Yavapai College, Prescott, Ariz., and Cathleen C. McColgin, provost, Onondaga Community College.

The four will be invited to Herkimer in December for campus forums before a final decision is made. Nader’s will be the last, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, in HCCC’s Robert McLaughlin College Center. “They hope to have someone in by June 2015,” Nader said.

The former mayor, part of an Oneonta political dynasty begun by his dad, Sam Nader, mayor during the 1960s, has been at SUNY Delhi since 1982, when, while working on his Ph.D. at the New School’s social research program, he taught economics, history and public policy.

In 2000, he was named the dean of the Liberal Arts & Sciences Department. In 2009, was named as provost.

The additional press of business made him realize he couldn’t continue at City Hall, and he recruited Dick Miller to run that fall on Democratic and independent lines.