Thomas A. Isekenegbe

Thomas A. Isekenegbe (pronounced “Se-ken-egbe”) was appointed the sixth president of Bronx Community College (BCC) in August 2015. Dr. Isekenegbe has an outstanding administrative, teaching and leadership record that spans nearly 30 years at both two-year and four-year institutions of higher education.

Dr. Isekenegbe’s commitment to student success is immeasurable. Under his leadership, BCC continues to thrive with the expansion of the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), which aims to ensure that every student has the opportunity to graduate with a degree in three years or less. This program enhances the learning experience for each student and ultimately leads to an academic career of excellence.

Dr. Isekenegbe is fully committed to creating a community of excellence at BCC not just for students but for the entire campus and the surrounding communities. In addition to the ASAP program, Dr. Isekenegbe has overhauled the student services division by merging these services with academic affairs. This merger has provided BCC students and faculty with a unique opportunity to receive exceptional service all in one place. With an outstanding student faculty ratio of 19 to 1, students are able to learn in an enriching environment that promotes academic excellence.

As President of BCC, Dr. Isekenegbe worked towards improving the enrollment process. Success in leading a great team in Admissions, IT, Testing, and ASAP allowed for the continuation of significant enhancements to data integration and automation. As a result, along with duplicating the ASAP model, the Admissions team was able to increase the automation of the enrollment processes for CUNY Start and Math Start programs.

Dr. Isekenegbe has received various awards and recognition from varied groups in the United States and abroad for services in different areas.

Prior to his appointment to BCC, Dr. Isekenegbe was president of Cumberland County College, a community college located in Vineland, New Jersey. He developed high-quality academic programs that are data-driven and responsive to current labor market demands. He directed the revision and redesign of Cumberland County College’s remedial courses and programming to fast-track student completion. The redesign was driven by longitudinal data collected in both remedial math and reading. Under his direction, the College joined the Achieving the Dream network of schools in 2010, which promotes the use of data to make strategic academic decisions.

Dr. Isekenegbe was born in Nigeria, making him the first CUNY president originally from Africa. And like more than half of BCC scholars, he was the first in his family to attend college, receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology with honors from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He went on to attend Indiana State University, where he earned a master’s in science education, as well as an Ed.S. and Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction.