News & Publications > Press Releases >

Contact: Jonathan Burman
Tom Dunn
Alan Ray
(518) 474-1201

State Board of Regents and Commissioner Mills Appoint Key Deputies to Lead Education Reform Effort
 

Albany, NY, February 13, 2007—The State Board of Regents and State Education Commissioner Richard Mills today announced the appointment of three distinguished individuals to key positions in the State Education Department:

• Johanna Duncan-Poitier as Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education – P-16,
• Jeffrey W. Cannell as Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education, and
• David J. Miller as Deputy Commissioner for Innovation and Chief of Staff.

“These three individuals bring a diverse record of tremendous accomplishment,” Regents Chancellor Robert M. Bennett said. “They have complementary talents that will greatly advance the Regents goal of closing the achievement gap and improving achievement overall in the face of growing global competition.”

“We are entering a new stage in education reform, and these three distinguished individuals will play a key role,” State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said. “We are bringing to bear the power of the entire University of the State of New York to improve results: schools, colleges, libraries and archives, museums, public broadcasting, the professions, and agencies that help people with disabilities. The State will invest more in these institutions in the next several years. We will all be held accountable. We will ensure that the funding is used wisely.”

Johanna Duncan-Poitier will lead the combined offices of Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Education and Higher Education as part of the Board of Regents campaign for reform throughout the pre-kindergarten through college continuum (P-16). She replaces James A. Kadamus, formerly Deputy for EMSC who retired last year.

Ms. Duncan-Poitier has been recognized across the State and nation for providing results-driven educational leadership, steering organizational change, directing innovative public programs, and creating cultures of collaboration to drive performance. She has provided over 20 years of leadership in the State Education Department in the Offices of Higher Education, the Professions, Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID), and Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education (EMSC), most recently serving concurrently as Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Higher Education and Office of the Professions.

In her current role as Deputy Commissioner, Ms. Duncan-Poitier led the development of the most comprehensive Regents Statewide Plan for Higher Education in New York’s history. In developing the plan, she engaged leaders from across the higher education community, K-12 schools, community-based organizations, government, professional associations, unions, and others. The plan will drive higher education policy in New York and shape proposals for regulation, legislation, and State funding for higher education through 2012. Ms. Duncan-Poitier has also provided ten years of transformative leadership as Deputy Commissioner in the Office of the Professions. Under her direction, the Office has upheld the Board of Regents long-standing commitment to public protection and the integrity of the licensed professions.

Ms. Duncan-Poitier brings to the role of Senior Deputy Commissioner for P-16 an unparalleled commitment to collaborating with teachers, students, school leaders, parents, college and university administrators, union leaders, government representatives, community leaders, and many other partners to support student performance and success by ensuring that all students are taught by qualified teachers and provided a quality education; working to raise graduation rates in high schools and colleges; infusing new standards of accountability in schools across the State; and strengthening the pre-Kindergarten through higher education continuum.

Jeffrey W. Cannell, currently Director of the Albany Public Library, will oversee libraries, museums, archives and public records, and public broadcasting, all of which are under the Board of Regents. He replaces Carole Huxley, who retired in October.

Mr. Cannell has led a major planning and public engagement campaign which will soon transform this important urban library system. He is now implementing a $50 million strategic facilities plan, which includes the creation and expansion of branch libraries throughout the city of Albany; the plan passed by a public vote of almost 2 to 1. He implemented a major rechartering initiative which turned the Albany Public Library into a public library district, an independent government entity. He was also responsible for extensive building renovations of the Wayne County, North Carolina, main library. Mr. Cannell has also introduced extensive outreach to the city’s diverse and underserved neighborhoods, including plans for new branch libraries and currently a bookmobile with computer and web access, books, and the services of a certified librarian. With a successful background in strategic planning, facilities construction, public engagement, management and operations, Mr. Cannell brings a diverse expertise which will be an asset to the Office of Cultural Education and to the creation of its major new facility.

Prior to becoming the Director in Albany, in 1998, Mr. Cannell was Director of the Wayne County Public Library in Goldsboro, North Carolina, from 1993-1998; Manager, Cliffdale Branch, Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center, Fayetteville, North Carolina, from 1991-1993; Branch Manager of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Bookseller for a number of enterprises from 1971-1980 and Reference Librarian at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Comparative Literature and a Master of Library Science, both from the State University of New York at Albany.

David J. Miller will be in a new post that is responsible for carrying out fundamental systems change where needed to ensure the Department’s capacity is allocated effectively to achieve its mission. He is a leader with outstanding accomplishments in the field of conservation and education. He is greatly respected and admired by state opinion leaders and has worked closely with both prominent Democrats and Republicans to achieve important national and state legislation. As executive director of Audubon New York, Mr. Miller has assembled a board of directors that includes such diverse individuals as Roger Saillant, the innovative pioneer of Plug Power; former Congressman Rick Lazio; Peter A. A. Berle, the former Assemblyman, Environmental Conservation Commissioner, and president of the National Audubon Society; Marian Heiskell of the New York Times; and Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff, a leading environmental attorney.

Mr. Miller comes highly recommended by the leaders who know him well. They praise his contagious enthusiasm, his drive as a leading architect of change, his devotion to education, and his ability to unify and work well with diverse individuals. He brought together a bipartisan coalition of labor, conservation, business, and Congressional leaders to pass the landmark Long Island Sound Restoration Act to clean up the Sound and later to secure funding for Long Island land acquisition. He worked closely with the Executive in the expenditure of the state’s Environmental Bond Act. He has earned the respect of important state legislators on both sides of the aisle.

New York Audubon is regarded as the nation’s leading state Audubon organization. Mr. Miller’s was the first state Audubon Society to create an urban nature center, in cooperation with the Prospect Park Alliance in Brooklyn, and he has continued to extend Audubon’s educational reach to inner city children through a variety of programs. Mr. Miller also led the National Audubon Society in creating a widely respected strategic plan with the close involvement of the national board of directors, the leadership of 38 state organizations, and grassroots volunteers.

Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.

# # #