College Info Office of the President
President Amy Kremenek
Dr. Amy Kremenek currently serves as the fifth president of Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3), a college of the State University of New York (SUNY) located in Dryden, New York. Her appointment was made by the Tompkins Cortland Community College Board of Trustees and the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees, and became effective on June 1, 2022.
In 2022, Dr. Kremenek was named an Aspen New Presidents Fellow, one of just 26 community college presidents nationwide selected for the program by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. This program, made possible with support from JPMorgan Chase, supports community college presidents in the early years of their tenure as they work to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success. She has focused her leadership efforts at TC3 on a four-part strategy of student enrollment and retention, institutional resources and assets, campus engagement and participation, and community partnerships and collaboration.
Dr. Kremenek serves on the Boards of Directors of Ithaca Area Economic Development, the Cortland County Business Development Corporation and the Tompkins Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the New York Community College Association of Presidents, Tompkins Chamber CEO Roundtable, CenterState CEO, and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tompkins Cortland Community College Foundation.
Prior to joining TC3, Dr. Kremenek served more than 15 years as Vice President at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York. Prior to her service in higher education, she worked in various professional roles in health care and public utilities. She has served on boards for a number of statewide and regional professional and civic organizations, including Say Yes to Education, SUNY Council on University Advancement, and the American Association of Women in Community Colleges.
She earned a Bachelor of Science from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs and Citizenship at Syracuse University, and a Doctorate of Management in Community College Policy and Administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus. She and her husband Brent are residents of Dryden and are the proud parents of two adult children.
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Past Presidents
2017-2021 Orinthia Montague
Orinthia T. Montague, Ph.D., became the fourth president of Tompkins Cortland Community College on July 5, 2017. She was appointed to the position by the Tompkins Cortland Community College Board of Trustees and approved by the State University of New York Board of Trustees.
President Montague came to Tompkins Cortland from Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, where she was the vice president of student affairs and chief diversity officer. Prior to serving as vice president, Montague was the dean of students at Normandale, and also had been associate vice provost and dean of students at University of Missouri-St. Louis. She left Tompkins Cortland to become president of Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee.
Montague was born in Jamaica. She received a Bachelor of Arts in interpersonal communication from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri; a Master of Arts in counseling from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri; and a Doctorate degree in higher education administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
1994-2017 Carl Haynes, President Emeritus
Carl E. Haynes, Ph.D. became Tompkins Cortland Community College's third president in 1994, having previously served in several positions at TC3 dating back to 1969. He retired from TC3 in 2017, completing the longest presidency in TC3’s history. He was named President Emeritus by TC3's Board of Trustees on July 20, 2017.
During Haynes’ tenure, TC3 was recognized as a leader in online learning, technology integration, and international education. TC3 has been named a top Digital Community College six times by the Center for Digital Education and the American Association of Community Colleges. Haynes was a featured speaker at several national and international conferences, where he focused on the innovative concept driving TC3's successful Global Connections program that saw TC3 form more than 30 partnerships in more than 20 countries.
Haynes also oversaw the expansion of innovative academic offerings to include a restaurant in downtown Ithaca, Coltivare, and an organic farm adjacent to campus. The “farm to bistro” concept, in which the farm provides produce to the restaurant while supporting four academic programs at TC3 was the first of its kind among community colleges in the Eastern United States.
During Haynes’ tenure, TC3 also completed two master plan renovations, adding approximately 90,000 square feet of building space to the campus, and rehabilitating approximately 40,000 square feet in the main building. A ten-acre solar plant was constructed on campus in 2014, providing nearly 90% of TC3’s electricity. Haynes also led TC3 through its first-ever major gifts campaign and received a $2 million gift that was later expanded to a total of $11.5 million to support a scholarship for adult students.
Haynes, a lifelong resident of New York State, received a bachelor's degree in business from the Rochester Institute of Technology, a Master of Science and Master of Business Administration from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.
1986-1994 Eduardo Marti
Eduardo J Marti, Ph.D., became the second president of Tompkins Cortland Community College in 1986. He held the position until 1994.
Marti came to Tompkins Cortland after having served in leadership roles at several institutions. He was Executive Dean at Tunxis Community College (Conn.), Dean of Faculty and acting President at Middlesex Community College (Conn.) and Associate Dean of Faculty of the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
After leaving Tompkins Cortland, Marti served as president of Corning Community College for six years, president of Queensborough community College for ten years, and Vice Chancellor for Community College for the City University of New York (CUNY). He also served as interim president of Bronx Community College and was a member of several national and regional boards.
Marti was born in Cuba. He received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in biology from New York University.
1968-1986 Hushang Bahar
Hushang Bahar was the founding president of Tompkins Cortland Community College, leading TC3 through its first 18 years of existence.
Bahar was President when TC3 first opened its doors in September 1968, with 180 students attending classes in a renovated old high school building in Groton. He was the driving force behind TC3's growth and the opening of the current campus building in Dryden in 1974. By the end of his tenure, TC3 was serving more than 5,000 full and part-time students each year.
Prior to TC3, Bahar experiences included teaching at the Army Language school in Monterey, California and serving as Director of Correctional Education in the Florida State Prison System. He was a faculty member at Orange County Community College and at Corning Community College, where he was also Director of the Continuing Education Program and Summer Session. Directly prior to assuming the presidency of TC3, Bahar was the Director of Graduate Studies and Extension Services at Ithaca College.
Bahar was born in Iran. He graduated from the American College of Tehran, Iran and the Indian Forest College in India. He received his B.A. in sociology and his M.A. in sociology and anthropology from the University of Montana. He pursued his doctoral studies at the University of Michigan.