Lehman College welcomes Jorge Silva-Puras as new interim provost

As classes resumed for the Fall semester, Jorge Silva-Puras began his position at Lehman College as the new interim proviost of the school.

“I look forward to listening and learning from our faulty, students and staff, strengthening the areas where we excel, and working with others in places that need improvement,” Silva-Puras said. “Some of my most rewarding career experiences have been teaching. So I look forward to facilitating the continuous improvement of Lehman’s superb teaching and learning traditions.”

After earning his bachelor of arts in political science from Yale, he went to University of Texas at Austin to receive his master’s in business administration. He also attended the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.

He was provost at Universidad Del Sagrado Corazon in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and taught business and entrepreneurship courses for several years at Hostos Community College and CUNY School of Professional Studies.

Before beginning his career in higher education, Silva-Puras worked in government for the Commonwealth in Puerto Rico and the federal government with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

His career did not end there. He is also an attorney, having earned his JD at Universty of Puerto Rico,  who worked for multiple Fortune 500 companies before moving to the public sector.

“I know that Interim Provost Silva-Puras will lead us through a strong transition from Provost Peter Nwosu to next Fall when we complete our search for a permanent provost,” said Lehman College President Fernando Delgado. “Jorge’s experience at CUNY, as provost and in government and the private sector equips him with a wide range of skills that will benefit our campus and the community.”

Lehman is the only public city four-year college in the Bronx and ranks among the top five institutions in the nation for fostering social mobility. The institution was also declared as a four-year Hispanic Serving institution by the education department.

It offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees as well as certificate programs in the liberal arts, science and professions.

SNHU president’s list

Five greater Riverdale students were named to the Southern New Hampshire University Summer 2023 president’s list.

The five students are Iris Almodovar, Carlos Gonzalez, Elizabeth Benros, John Dukarm and Andrew Melendez.

To earn president’s list honors, a student must earn a minimum grade point average of 3.70 and above for the reporting term. To be a full-time, a student must earn 12 credits over a 16-week term or paired eight-week terms.

SNHU is a private, nonprofit institution with a 90-year history of educating traditional age students and working adults. It now serves more than 170,000 learners worldwide with about 200 accredited undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs available online and on its 300-acre campus in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Montefiore pitches in to help parents, students

As families prepared for the first day of school, Montefiore Health System partnered with community groups and elected officials throughout the Bronx and Westchester to donate thousands of school supplies to local community members.

Through more than a dozen events held over the last two months, Montefiore provided more than 1,500 students with school supplies, including 1,350 back-to-school kits. Those include age-appropriate books, pens and rulers as well as backpacks.

Among the elected officials who took part were state Sen. Gustavo Rivera and Bronx Borough president Vanessa Gibson.

“Serving our communities means understanding that we address some of the unmet needs of our families that go beyond those we treat within the walls of our institution,” said Dr. Suzette Oyeku, chief of the division of academic general pediatrics at Montefiore.

The “Healthy Back-to-School” series comes at a critical time for many families due to the soaring costs of school supplies. According to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, the cost of school supplies has gone up 12 percent compared to last year. That comes to $130 per student, which doesn’t include clothing, technology or activity fees.