Pace University President Stephen J. Friedman announced Wednesday that he will not request reappointment at the end of his current term in June 2017. Friedman will have served 10 years as University president upon the conclusion of his second term.
In a letter yesterday morning to the entire Pace community, President Friedman said he was pleased about the major strides Pace has made during the past nine years and the very bright future that lies ahead for the university. The process of selecting the University’s next president will begin shortly.
Stephen J. Friedman became the seventh president of Pace University in June 2007. He was reappointed for a second, five-year term by unanimous vote of the University’s Board of Trustees in 2011. Prior to being named president, he served for three years as dean of Pace University School of Law.
Mark Besca, Chairman of Pace University’s Board of Trustees, praised Friedman’s leadership, saying:
“Stephen Friedman is a transformational figure who, from day one, had a keen sense of the University’s potential and a visionary plan to achieve it. Throughout two remarkable terms as president, he has demonstrated passionate advocacy for our students and worked tirelessly to position Pace for a bold and bright future.”
In his letter, Friedman states,
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve this university that I have come to love so much for the past 12 years… As a community, we have come a very long way together in renewing and strengthening virtually every aspect of the academic, physical, and student life of Pace University, as well as its management and administration, and I am very proud of what we have achieved.”
He concludes by saying, “My time at Pace as Dean of the Law School and President has been the most challenging and rewarding period of a long and varied professional life. As I reflect on the reasons for that conclusion, they come down, as do all important decisions here, to our students and our mission – to the truly magical transformation in the still unformed young men and women who enter our doors… It has been a privilege to be part of their lives and the life of Pace University.”