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College Board elects officers for 2016-17 academic year

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Genesee Community College announced today that Laura J. Bohm was elected chair of the Genesee Community College Board of Trustees for 2016-2017. Her appointment as chair begins at the first meeting of the 2016 -2017 year at the August board meeting.

The other Board of Trustees appointments at the monthly meeting July 11 included Donna M. Ferry as vice chair, and Peter R. Call as secretary.

Bohm has most recently served two one-year terms as vice chair and succeeds two-term chair, Diane D. Torcello.

Bohm was originally appointed to the College's Board of Trustees by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo serving a nine-year term from 1986 until 1995. During that time she served as board chair from 1992 to 1995. Her more recent gubernatorial appointment was made by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in 2008 for a seven-year term, and she was reappointed for a second seven-year term running from 2015 until 2022.

Bohm demonstrates a history of leadership, having recently begun a two-year term as chair of the New York Community College Trustees (NYCCT). As a voluntary nonprofit consortium of community college trustees, NYCCT was established to strengthen the effectiveness of New York community college trustees and helps shape public policy impacting community colleges. The organization represents the appointed board members who govern the 30 community colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Bohm was recognized in 1999 with an award for Distinguished Service from the Association of Boards of Community Colleges, the predecessor to the current NYCCT.

Her service goes well beyond community colleges as she has supported the local community through extensive volunteer work and leadership by serving as chair or a member of the United Way Board of Directors, the Batavia City Youth Bureau, Habitat for Humanity, The Paolo Busti Italian Cultural Foundation, the Franciscan Sisters of the Divine Child, the Board of Directors of Birchwood Village in Batavia and the Batavia City School Board. Bohm also was a commissioner for the Batavia Housing Authority.

As a Genesee Community College trustee, she is currently a member of the College's Buildings and Grounds and Finance committees, and is a representative to the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), a national organization representing community college trustees.

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