3 minute read
Alumni of the Year
BILL FRITZ, class of 1975 and 1977
BY MAKENA HORTON, senior communication major
Bill Fritz is president of the College of Staten Island, The City University of New York (CUNY CSI). During his leadership, the university, which is the second largest employer in Staten Island, has undergone critical maintenance projects and the university’s foundation assets have quadrupled.
The foundation for Fritz’s own success began in a one-room log cabin classroom in Northwestern Montana. “My family lived in an original homesteaders’ cabin on a ranch about 10 miles away,” he says. From there, Fritz’s educational journey took him to Bella Vista Elementary School in Puerto Rico, Antillean College for his freshmen year of high school, and then to Shenandoah Valley Academy in Virginia. He found his way to WWU when the biology program he was studying in at Columbia Union College underwent structural changes, and his professor, Lester Harris, told him, “You need to transfer, and it can be anywhere—as long as it’s Walla Walla!” His studies at the Rosario Beach Marine Station focused on sponge respiration in Puget Sound. He made some of the first dives known to the local diving community under the Deception Pass bridge. (Fritz’s ties to WWU run deep: Peterson Memorial Library is named after his grand uncle Frank Peterson.)
Fritz describes himself as an “enthusiastic biology major” during his time at WWU. However he says his grades were less than ideal since he worked full time to pay tuition and support his growing family. “I had the great fortune to be in school at a time when I was eligible for food stamps, and that program alone probably kept me from dropping out,” he says. Fritz says this experience has helped him relate to the challenges faced by many students in the large, urban, public-access institutions where he has spent his career.
After completing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology at WWU, Fritz completed a doctoral program in geology in 1980 at the University of Montana. Just before defending his dissertation, he took a job with Amoco as an exploration geologist where he was put in charge of the newly developing Pacific Northwest region. “My first day on the job I was unexpectedly called before a committee to weigh in on a debate on the importance of some well logs,” he says. “My skills of oral presentation and thinking on my feet from Walla Walla paid off.”
Fritz says he enjoyed his work but knew that his passion was in higher education. In fall 1981 he joined the faculty at Georgia State University as an assistant professor of geology and eventually became provost. In 2008 he became provost for CUNY CSI and in 2012 was named CUNY CSI president.
Bill Fritz '75 and '77
Illustration by Neil Jamieson
Fritz is a also commercial instrument rated pilot with more than 2,100 hours in single- and multi-engine planes and seaplanes. He has flown across North America and often uses examples of flight planning, risk management, and safety in his leadership role at CUNY CSI. He advises college students to have a flight plan, but to not be afraid to alter the plan, as flight plans often change with gusts of wind, thunderstorms, or due to weary passengers.
Fritz and his wife, Bonnie, enjoy travel—especially with members of his parent’s generation—“the Greatest Generation”—because he says they are less risk averse than many other generations and ready for adventure!
Fritz enjoys cooking, and on every move-in day at CUNY CSI, he and his team make over 1,000 waffles using his great-grandmother’s recipe and his collection of antique cast iron waffle irons. While students and their families are waiting in line for their waffles, he asks them about their dreams and why they chose to include CUNY CSI in making those dreams a reality. “My passion is to serve and educate students from tough backgrounds, from marginal underrepresented groups, and to connect with the needs of the local community,” he says.
