ROCHESTER, NY – The Empire 8 announced that Elmira College President Dr. Thomas Meier will serve as president of the conference, succeeding Dr. Charles Edmondson of Alfred University, whose two-year term concluded July 1.

Utica College Athletic Director Jim Spartano will begin his two-year term as first Vice-President after two years as Second Vice-President.  Stevens Institute of Technology Athletic Director Russ Rogers was unanimously elected as the Second Vice-President.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Meier as our next president,” said Empire 8 Commissioner Chuck Mitrano. “He has extensive knowledge of the conference, its member institutions and the NCAA. More importantly he has a great philosophy regarding intercollegiate athletics role in higher education and great vision to help us continue to develop and thrive as a premiere athletic conference.”

Dr. Meier is the 12th president of Elmira, serving in that position since 1987.  He earned a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and received a Ph.D degree in English Literature from Columbia University.  When he was in college, he was an intercollegiate athlete and honor student, having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Dr. Meier authored a book on Daniel Defoe and more than six dozen scholarly articles on English and American Literature.  He, along with his wife Dr. Mila Meier, is very active and visible on the Elmira College campus and in the greater community.  They can be seen at virtually all of the performing arts events, athletic contests, and other student activities on campus.

Spartano takes over for Jim Moretti, the Alfred University Athletic Director who served two-year terms as Second Vice-President and most recently First Vice-President.

Spartano has guided Utica coaches and student-athletes for the past 36 years.  He began his career coaching both baseball and basketball at the school after earning his bachelors degree at Oneonta State, where he is a member of the Oneonta Athletics Hall of Fame. He received both his graduate and masters degree in athletic administration from Syracuse University. 

Rogers has overseen rapid growth and development in the intercollegiate athletic programs at Stevens during his eight-year tenure as Athletic Director.  The school’s offering of varsity sports has increased from 17 to 25 under his leadership.  The athletic department, which did not send its first team to a NCAA tournament prior to his taking over as athletic director, enjoyed its highest winning percentage in school history during the 2007-08 season (.677) and ended the year first among all technology-based institutions in the USSA Division III Director’s Cup standings.

Rogers, who led the school’s transition into the Empire 8, has served terms as president of both the Skyline Conference and Knickerbocker Lacrosse Conference.