The board of trustees of the City University of New York has appointed Daisy Cocco De Filippis as president of Eugenio MariÌa de Hostos Community College in The Bronx, New York. She is the first woman native of the Dominican Republic to serve as president of a CUNY college.
Hostos Community College enrolls more than 7,100 students, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 66 percent of the student body.
Dr. Cocco De Filippis returned to Hostos Community College on August 1, 2020, as interim president after a 12-year tenure as president of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut. From 2002 to 2008, she served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Hostos Community College. She spent the first 20 years of her academic career at CUNY’s York College, starting as an adjunct lecturer, rising to tenured professor of Spanish and associate dean for academic affairs.
“It is an honor to serve our beloved Hostos Community College as its next president,” Dr. Cocco De Filippis said. “The future of Hostos, with its promise of our collective health and engagement, is bright. Together, the Hostos family and I will continue to collaborate with generosity and diligent engagement with our students and the communities we serve.”
Dr. Cocco De Fillipis earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Queens College, a campus of the CUNY system. She earned a master’s degree in Spanish literature and a Ph.D. in Spanish at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.