New Utica University president begins duties

UTICA — When Todd Pfannestiel and his wife, Aimee Zellers, were learning about Utica University and he had a chance to interview for the provost position, he says he’d always had an ambition to become a university president. 

“I knew from the time I first arrived here at Utica that this would be the institution that I really wanted the opportunity to lead,” Pfannestiel says.

After serving as Utica University’s provost since 2018, Pfannestiel is now leading the institution as the school’s 10th president.

He succeeds Laura Casamento, who retired from the role July 31 after a seven-year tenure as president. Pfannestiel’s appointment went into effect Aug. 1. 

He spoke with CNYBJ on June 30.

Pfannestiel remembers getting the call that the chair of the board of trustees asked to meet with him. As an internal candidate for the job, Pfannestiel understood the timeline for finding a successor well and knew whatever decision the university made would be coming likely within that day, calling it a “nervous” day. 

“But when I got the call that afternoon to meet with him and then had that discussion, it was a relief that the search was concluded; excitement that really my dream to lead this institution was coming to fruition and every day since then has just been taking that excitement to a new level,” he says.

Pfannestiel begins his duties as president just weeks before the start of a new academic year. At the same time. Utica’s dean of business and justice studies begins his role serving as the school’s interim provost.

“There’ll be some changes in academic affairs structure moving forward as well,” Pfannestiel notes. “It’s a matter of just getting all the right people in positions in the right places.” 

He begins as Utica University’s top official knowing the university has strong data for enrollment heading into the upcoming academic year. In a March 22 school news release, Utica University said at the time first-year student deposits at the school were higher than they have been in more than 10 years, up 45 percent year-over-year. 

“The report that I just received shows that our number of freshmen and transfer deposits together is still up 34 percent over last year, so it’s remained consistently high,” he told CNYBJ in the June 30 interview. 

Pfannestiel credits the work of the university’s admissions and enrollment-management team. He also believes college students have quickly recovered from the pandemic. 

“If you compare them to our staff, our faculty, what is clear is that students want to return for a traditional college experience, [something] many of whom never had an opportunity to take part in over the past two years,” he says.

President’s background 

Pfannestiel has 25 years of experience in higher education, as a faculty member, school dean, and senior administrator. Throughout the course of his tenure as provost and senior VP for academic affairs at Utica University, he has led and collaborated closely with faculty on a variety of initiatives to raise the academic profile of the university and further its mission.

Prior to joining Utica University, Pfannestiel served on the faculty of Clarion University of Pennsylvania for 20 years, earning the rank of professor of history. During his time at Clarion, he also served as dean of the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, interim provost, and acting president.

Pfannestiel earned his Ph.D. in history from the College of William and Mary, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Foundation fellow in the Humanities; completed post-graduate studies at Duke University as a National Science Foundation graduate fellow in economics and completed his bachelor’s degree in history and economics at the University of Arkansas as a Fulbright College scholar.

A native of Oklahoma, Pfannestiel and his wife, Aimee Zellers, an associate professor of philosophy at Carlow University, reside in Sauquoit, Utica University said.