Peter Nwosu Becomes First Igbo President of State University of New York 

Peter O. Nwosu was officially inaugurated as the 11th president of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego.

The event marks the first time an African-born president will lead the 163-year-old institution.

Nwosu, is a scholar from Umudioka in Anambra State, Nigeria. He is expected to bring a transformative vision to the university.

The inauguration ceremony held on Friday in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall, named after the institution’s previous president.

Nwosu had officially assumed his duties as president since Aug. 15, 2023.

SUNY Oswego welcomed Dr. Peter O. Nwosu, a Fulbright scholar and fellow of the American Council on Education, from CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College, where he served as senior vice president for academic affairs and student success and provost.

At historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Carnegie-designated doctoral research institutions, Clark Atlanta University, he held the positions of vice president for academic affairs and provost.

He also held the positions of associate vice president for academic programs and accreditation liaison officer at California State University, Fullerton, one of the 23 campuses of the California State University System that serves the Hispanic community.

Dr. Nwosu has led strategic initiatives to advance equity-minded student success outcomes, foster institutional effectiveness, and improve these institutions’ national reputations and visibility as engines of upward mobility and community engagement.

He is a passionate advocate for access to high-quality education for the increasingly diverse student body in the United States. He is also a systems thinker and strategic planner who strongly believes in the power of collaboration and shared governance.

After graduating from the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, Dr. Nwosu went on to earn a PhD in communication studies from Howard University, an MA in liberal studies from Towson University, and a BA in mass communication and journalism from the Institute of Management and Technology in Enugu, Nigeria.