In 2014, the stars seemed to align for The College of New Rochelle (CNR), according to its 13th president, Judith Huntington. The school garnered two federal grants totaling $14 million, the largest amount in the college’s history. Among other things, CNR is using the funding to augment its libraries. “Last year was a remarkable year!” Huntington says. “The timing [of the grants] was perfect because we had just completed two years of strategic planning to identify CNR’s priorities and objectives. We immediately had the resources to get those initiatives started.” In reality, CNR’s recent success has nothing to do with the alignment of stars and everything to do with Huntington’s leadership, which has been on display since she joined CNR 15 years ago as the vice president of finance. Among other accomplishments, she’s proud of her role overseeing the construction and financing of the college’s $28 million Wellness Center.Huntington began her career at accounting firm KPMG; CNR was actually among the many clients for whom she provided auditing services. Twenty-five years later, at the helm of CNR, Huntington operates with a leadership philosophy of “surrounding yourself with smart, highly skilled people and getting out of their way to let them do their jobs.”“In order to inspire a culture of creativity and innovation, you have to provide guidance and the freedom to make good decisions,” she says