Heritage & History
- Russell K. Hotzler
- 2004 to present
Dr. Russell K. Hotzler assumed the presidency of New York City College of Technology in August 2004 after having served as City University of New York vice chancellor for academic program planning, a position that holds system-wide responsibility for planning and program initiatives including those related to transfer and articulation. Prior to becoming vice chancellor, Hotzler held the position of interim president at York College, guiding that institution through a period of administrative transition. This appointment followed his two-year tenure as interim president at Queens College, where he also directed the school through a period of restructuring.
In 1971, Hotzler joined The City University of New York as a faculty member at Queensborough Community College, where he taught and served as vice president for academic affairs prior to joining the University's central administration in 1996 as university dean for academic affairs.
His University-wide responsibilities have included oversight of academic program initiatives and liaison to the State Education Department and the Middle States Association in matters related to program review and college accreditation. He also coordinated CUNY’s Teacher Education initiatives and worked with the colleges to ensure compliance with new state requirements for the professions and teacher education. In addition, he served as liaison to the NYC Board of Education in matters of teacher education and development of new performance standards for K-12 mathematics and science instruction.
Hotzler currently serves as chair of the New York State Regents Advisory Committee on Accreditation. His other experiences include working with the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Bio-Engineering Department where he studied metal-tissue interactions and wear characteristics of metal implants and serving as a NASA research fellow studying the microstructure and characteristics of oxide-dispersion strengthened alloys at the NASA Research Center in Ohio.
In 2004, Hotzler was honored by CUNY’s Asian American/Asian Research Institute for the instrumental role he played in the institute’s founding and earlier was awarded the American Society for Metals Education Award in recognition of his contributions to the teaching of science and elected to the board of the society’s National Education Committee. He is also a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Christopher Columbus Award from the Italian Charities of America. He has been active in numerous professional societies including the American Society for Metals, the American Society for Testing and Materials, the American Society for Engineering Education, and Sigma XI.
A native New Yorker, Hotzler holds a bachelor of science degree and a master of science degree in metallurgical engineering and a PhD in physical metallurgy from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now Polytechnic University) where he also served as a member of the faculty in the Department of Physical & Engineering Metallurgy.
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