Purchase College in New York Announces Its Next President

The State University of New York Board of Trustees announced today that Dr. Milagros Peña will become the sixth president of Purchase College.

Purchase College enrolls about 4,100 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students, according to the most recent data supplied to the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 58 percent of the undergraduate student body.

“It is an honor for me to be chosen for this position,” Dr. Peña said. “I was drawn to Purchase for its distinctive strength in the liberal arts and the arts and the diverse and inclusive community that values individuality and fully embraces the motto ‘think wide open.’ Purchase College is everything a liberal arts education can offer — where excellence and exploration are encouraged as one journeys to fulfill one’s potential. I am proud to be able to join my colleagues at Purchase College in joining in that journey.”

Dr. Peña has been serving as dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. She was named dean in 2015.

The daughter of Dominican immigrants, Dr. Peña was not only a first-generation college student but the first person in her family to graduate from high school. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. Dr. Peña holds a master’s degree from Union Theological Seminary, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology from Stony Brook University in New York.