Retiring longtime dean Linda Petrosino ’77, M.S. ’78 will be honored with the Ithaca College Presidential Medal at the 2023 Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 21. A holder of both undergraduate and graduate degrees in speech-language pathology from the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, Petrosino announced in March that she will be retiring at the end of this academic year after having served since 2012 as the school’s dean.
Linda Petrosino to be Honored with Ithaca College Presidential Medal
By News, April 26, 2023
Established in 2019, the Presidential Medal was created as a way to honor a member or members of the Ithaca College family or valued partners of the institution whose lives embody the values of Ithaca College and demonstrate a strong sense of service and sustainability to the Ithaca College community and our world.
Petrosino’s roots at Ithaca College run deep. In the early 1900s her great grandmother was the advisor of women for what was then known as the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, and her maternal grandmother and grandfather both graduated from the conservatory.
Among her many significant accomplishments as dean, Petrosino consolidated the physical therapy program onto the IC campus and facilitated development of a doctoral degree program in occupational therapy, master’s degree programs in physician assistant studies and athletic training, a fully online part-time graduate program in speech-language pathology, and a 3+4 articulation agreement with the Binghamton University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She also developed and implemented the school strategic plan; led the renovation of key facilities; and provided oversight of program reviews, including for 10 different accrediting bodies. She prioritized the infusion of interprofessional education and practice throughout the school’s programs and student experiences; conducted a strategic realignment of academic programs, with an emphasis on future sustainability; and focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in practice, programs, and curricular enhancements.
In 2014-15 and then again in 2016-18, Petrosino stepped in to serve the college as interim provost and vice president for educational affairs, during which times she facilitated two presidential transitions and Middle States reaccreditation, co-chaired the Institutional Effectiveness Budget Committee, worked with the facilities master plan, and finalized the IC 20/20 strategic plan.
Her institutional service has also included membership on search committees for a variety of academic and administrative leadership positions, co-chairing the Council on Diversity and Inclusion and the Campus Climate Survey, and serving on the Shared Governance Task Force, IC 20/20 Advisory Council, and Longview/IC Planning Committee.
Petrosino was named a Fellow of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions—an organization of which she also served as president—and of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and she held leadership roles with Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She was named an Exemplar of Women in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics by the State of Ohio.
For more information on the 2023 Commencement, visit Ithaca.edu/commencement.