07/10/2009
John Cottone, SUNY Cortland’s interim dean of the School of Professional Studies, will also serve as interim dean of the College’s School of Education, effective Aug. 1.
He replaces Gerald Porter, who served as dean of education since July 2007. Porter resigned to return to the SUNY Oswego faculty
As interim dean, Cottone will oversee four academic departments offering degrees at both the baccalaureate and master’s level: Educational Leadership, Foundations and Social Advocacy, Childhood/Early Childhood Education, and Literacy.
The School of Education was formed in 2003 from a group of academic departments that split from the School of Professional Studies. Since Fall 2008, the school has occupied a newly constructed, three-story building attached to the existing Cornish and Van Hoesen buildings on Neubig Road. SUNY Cortland, originally the Cortland Normal School, was founded in 1868 for the purpose of teacher education.
Cottone, a member of the SUNY Cortland faculty since 1985, has served as interim dean of the School of Professional Studies since July 2008. He previously chaired the Kinesiology Department since its inception in 2001. Cottone also directed the Athletic Training Program for 22 years. He was the interim director of the Physical Education Department — when it also included sport management, athletic training and kinesiology — in both 1997-98 and in Spring 2000.
A 2007 recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service, Cottone has served on more than 30 committees, many of which address critical components of the College’s mission. His leadership led to his appointment as chair of the Educational Policy Committee and of the Curriculum Task Force. He also shared his expertise in health and safety as a member of the Emergency Squad Advisory Board and the Automated External Defibrillator Task Force.
Since receiving his doctorate in education from Syracuse University, Cottone has been a manuscript reviewer for Human Kinetics, a publishing company. He has also written articles for several athletic training journals and presented papers at athletic conferences throughout the northeast.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he grew up in West Babylon, N.Y. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Castleton State College in Vermont, where he was a standout lacrosse player and an inductee into the Castleton State Athletic Hall of Fame. He earned a master’s degree in physical education and athletic training from Indiana State University.
Cottone has more than 30 years of experience as a faculty member, department chair and administrator in higher education. He began his professional career as an assistant professor of physical education and the athletic trainer at Castleton State College. In 1985, he joined SUNY Cortland as an assistant professor of physical education and the head athletic trainer. He was promoted to associate professor in 2000.
He resides in Virgil, N.Y., with his wife Brenda, and their two children, Nicole, a senior at Nazareth College, and Caitlin, who will enter St. John Fisher College this fall as a freshman.