SUNY Potsdam

SUNY Potsdam's Satterlee Hall

The State University of New York at Potsdam, also known as SUNY Potsdam, or, colloquially, Potsdam, is a public university located in the Village of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York. Founded in 1816, it is among the 100 oldest colleges in the United States. It is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Education and Professional Studies, and the renowned Crane School of Music.

History

Potsdam was founded by Benjamin Raymond in 1816 as the St. Lawrence Academy. In 1835, the academy was chosen by the New York State Legislature to exclusively offer a teacher education program for its senatorial district. With funds from the state, and from support by preceptor Reverend Asa Brainerd, the first diploma in teaching was given in 1836, thus beginning the academy's and eventually the college's longstanding tradition of excellence in the field of teacher education.

In 1866, the State Legislature ended its funding of teacher education departments in private academies, and began establishing several normal schools throughout the state. The Village of Potsdam was thus named as one of four locations for new normal schools, and in 1867, the St. Lawrence Academy became the Potsdam Normal School.

By 1886, the Potsdam Normal School made history by becoming the first institution in the United States to offer a normal training course for public school music teachers in the United States. Founded by Julia E. Crane, the Crane Normal Institute of Music continues today as the world-renowned Crane School of Music as a leader in the field of music education.

The State University of New York was founded in 1948, and Potsdam became one its founding members, and was thus renamed New York State Teachers College at Potsdam. In 1964, the college's mission changed to providing multiple programs, and the university adopted its current name.

During the 1980s, despite the college's traditional strengths in music and education, the college gained recognition for its quickly blossoming mathematics program under the guidance of Dr. Clarence F. Stephens. Known as the Potsdam Miracle, Stephens transformed a practically non-existent department to having the third largest number of mathematics majors of any institution in the United States during his tenure.

Today, the college boasts a total enrollment of approximately 4,500 students.

Campus

The campus is located in the small village of Potsdam, near the United States-Canadian border. It is situated in the St. Lawrence Valley, between the St. Lawrence River and the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. It is located about 10 miles northwest of the border of the Adirondack State Park in Parishville.

The school sits on Template:Convert/acre and consists of 44 buildings. Barrington Drive runs through the center of the campus, with all academic buildings on the northwest side of the street, and all campus life and residence buildings on the southeast side. The Crane School of Music campus is located in the northern part of the campus, east of the academic quad.

The college has two libraries, the Frederick W. Crumb Memorial Library in the center of the academic quad, and the Crane Music Library, located in Schuette Hall at the Crane complex. The college also has six performance facilities, The College Theater and the Black Box, both of which are in Satterlee hall, and the dance studio in Dunn Hall, plus three that serve the Crane School, an art gallery, and the Maxcy Hall Athletic Facility.

Notable faculty emeriti and alumni

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SUNY Potsdam's Carson Hall

• Clarence F. Stephens (Professor Emeritus), mathematics educator.
• Brock McElheran (Professor Emeritus), conductor and author.
• David J. Hanson (Professor Emeritus), alcohol researcher.
• Arthur Frackenpohl (Professor Emeritus), composer and author.
• T. Coraghessan Boyle, author.
• Renée Fleming, opera singer, soprano.
• Lisa Vroman, singer and stage actress, soprano.
• Tim Welsh, former head basketball coach at Providence College
• C. J. Rapp, entrepreneur and beverage executive (creator of Jolt Cola).
• Stephanie Blythe, opera singer, mezzo-soprano.
• David Valesky, politician and member of the New York State Senate.
• Marc Butler, politician and member of the New York State Assembly.
• Stephen Savoia, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer.
• Eileen Whelley, Executive Vice President for Human Resources at NBC.
• Daniel Decker, Composer and recording artist.
• Daniel Schaefer, politician, former U.S. Representative from Colorado.
• Stanley Kunitz, former U.S. poet laureate.
• William Buell Richards, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Jerome Simon Socolof, contestant on TV show Jeopardy.
• Melissa Wegner, contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"

In pop culture

• The university was mentioned in the American comedy TV series Will & Grace, in its 86th episode ("Dyeing Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard") guest starring Rosie O'Donnell.

External links

• Official website
• Discover Potsdam NY
• SUNY Potsdam Student Government Association
• The Racquette
• WAIH 90.3 FM