Dr. Joyce F. Brown spoke to all six ceremonies on Wednesday and Thursday, May 21 and 22. Dr. Brown is
president of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a specialized college of art
and design, business and technology of the State University of New York (SUNY). Appointed
in 1998, she is the college’s sixth president.
Dr. Brown, a highly regarded educator and academic administrator, has had over 40
years’ experience in public higher education. She held a number of senior administrative
posts at the City University of New York (CUNY) before arriving at FIT, including
acting president of Bernard Baruch College and vice chancellor of the university.
Prior to her appointment at FIT, she was professor of counseling psychology at the
Graduate School and University Center of CUNY, where she is currently professor emerita.
Dr. Brown also served as a New York City deputy mayor for public and community affairs
during the David Dinkins administration.
At FIT, Dr. Brown has led an ambitious, unprecedented multi-year, multi-million-dollar
initiative coordinating strategic and investment planning that has transformed the
college. She has built faculty ranks, increased technology, improved student services,
enhanced the campus with new and renovated facilities, and invigorated its culture
with ground-breaking initiatives in diversity and sustainability. In widely expanding
the curriculum, she has added innovative new programs, interdisciplinary minors and
raised the profile of the liberal arts. In addition, she has raised and garnered $189
million, a combination of private and public funds, to build the first new academic
building on campus in 40 years. Occupancy for that building is anticipated in 2024.
FIT serves over 8,000 full and part-time students with a faculty and staff of more
than 1,700. Dr. Brown is FIT’s first woman and first African-American president.
Throughout her career, Dr. Brown has been a strong advocate for public higher education
and has demonstrated a sophisticated knowledge of the many communities that make up
New York. She directed numerous special initiatives for CUNY, including the Urban
Summit of Big City Mayors, as well as collaborations between the New York City Board
of Education and the university which focused on improving academic preparation and
retention in the secondary schools. In addition, she created and directed programs
with the government of South Africa, including the Professional Development Program—an
effort inspired by Nelson Mandela—designed to prepare Black South Africans for key
positions in business and industry.
Most recently, Dr. Brown created The Social Justice Center (SJC) at FIT, a first-of-its-kind
initiative in higher education, which is a groundbreaking effort to address the systemic
problems faced by BIPOC youth, college students, and working professionals in the
fields that drive the creative economy. The SJC offers meaningful support and services
to help BIPOC students and employees succeed in the creative industries, including
fashion—and significantly increase diversity and equity within these industries.
Active in numerous community, civic and professional organizations, Dr. Brown also
serves as president of the FIT Foundation, an advisory and support body to FIT. She
is currently a director of AFFOA (Advanced Functional Fabrics of America) and the
Park Avenue Armory as well as a trustee of the Culinary Institute of America and the
Economic Club of New York. She is also a Clean Revolution Ambassador for The Climate
Group. In addition, she has served on state-wide commissions and task forces on the
black family, child care and domestic violence. She has been honored by numerous educational,
cultural and civic organizations including New York University, Marymount College,
Clark Atlanta University, The Town Hall, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and the Brooklyn
Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Brown earned her doctorate and master’s degree in counseling psychology from New
York University and her bachelor’s degree from Marymount College in Tarrytown, New
York, where she served as a trustee from 1994 to 2000. She also received a certificate
from the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.
FIT, which was founded in 1944 to prepare students for careers in fashion, today offers
almost 50-degree programs not only in fashion and its related fields, but also in
areas where industry has made New York City its focal point. It offers two-year programs
leading to the AAS degree, four-year programs, including two in the liberal arts,
leading to a BFA or BS degree and graduate programs granting Master of Arts degrees,
Master of Professional Studies degrees and Master of Fine Arts degrees. It also offers
competency-based certificate programs in a wide variety of fields
