For Immediate Release
August 11, 2022

Dr. Liesl Jones Appointed Vice President of Academic Affairs

Dr. Liesl Jones

Suffolk County Community College has appointed Dr. Liesl Jones as vice president of academic affairs, the College announced. Dr. Jones began her position on August 1.

Dr. Jones will serve as the College’s chief academic officer and provide academic and administrative leadership and strategic planning and implementation and evaluation for the educational, workforce and academic programs at Suffolk.

“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Liesl Jones join us at Suffolk,” said Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Edward Bonahue.  “Dr. Jones’ exceptional experience and leadership—especially in the hard sciences and major grants--will provide the guidance needed to ensure the continued success of our College’s academic programs and aid our students and faculty in reaching their full potential. Dr. Jones will be a great asset to our institution.”

“I’m overjoyed to join the Suffolk County Community College family and am looking forward to advancing academics to support and lift the communities we serve,” Dr. Jones said. “I’m thrilled to partner with the exceptional faculty, staff, and students here at Suffolk.”

Dr. Jones joins Suffolk from Baltimore City Community College where she developed policies to increase student success and developed bridges between workforce development, prior learning experiences, and college credit.

Dr. Jones earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Fordham University and a doctorate in Neuroscience from Allegheny University. Upon completion of a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical College, Dr. Jones joined the faculty at Lehman College/CUNY, a federally-designated Hispanic Serving Institution, where she earned tenure and rose through the ranks to become full professor of biological sciences, in addition to serving terms as chair of the department of chemistry and chair of the department of biological sciences.

Later, Dr. Jones joined New Jersey’s multi-campus Union County College where she served as Dean of Science Technology Engineering and Math and managed the College’s office of grants and sponsored programs. Through the College’s DOE-funded First in the World grant, she worked closely with the math faculty to develop a program that allowed students to self-select for developmental math and in fall 2019 led the College’s transition to becoming fully developmental optional.