Dean Porfirio Goes Global

Assistant Dean Vincent Porfirio will be traveling nationally and globally throughout the academic year. Starting with Cape Town, South Africa, Vincent spent the summer of 2009 abroad via Harvard University’s Center of International Development through the Albert N. Husted Fellowship and funding provided by The Sage Colleges.

Vincent Porfirio with SUNY President Hall

In November 2009 Vincent  traveled to The University of the West Indies, Trinidad campus, to guest lecture with the Centre for Gender and Development Studies on advertising and identity. He also presented data collected in South Africa and completed service projects in St. Augustine. The Dean is planning a return trip in November 2010.

January 2010 had Dean Porfirio flying south to Mississippi and Tennessee  for a two state tour of secondary institutions. He was a guest of Teach for America and visited at-risk classrooms in rural and urban settings. This trip allowed for Vincent to work with Teach for America eduators and students in high-needs districts within the cities of Memphis and Clarksdale.

May 2010 will have Dean Porfirio jetting to the Peoples Republic of China as he will be a guest of the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT) and accompanying Sage Graduate School students as they embark on a multi national corporate and cultural tour of China. Vincent will be visiting Beijing, Xian, Guilin and spending significant time in Shanghai. The multi-city tour of the China will allow for a close look at business relations in China and abroad and will allow for exchanges with representatives from China and the United States.

June and July 2010 will have Vincent traveling domestically to Chicago, IL and Nashville, TN. His visit to the windy city will have Vincent attending a conference and the Chicago International Film Festival. Nashville will be welcoming Dean Porfirio as he will be Faculty at the 2010 National LGBT Summer Leadership Camp for a week.

Dean Porfirio will also be spending extensive time traveling both domestically and internationally throughout much of 2010-2011. As he continues to experience new people, cultures, and places he will be reporting back to all of you. 

Dean Porfirio Bio:

Vincent Gerald Porfirio hails from Schoharie, New York; a rural county located upstate. There he was raised by his father and mother, Angelo and Gail Porfirio and his grandparents, Gerald and Audrey Paden. During his formative years Vincent was actively involved in Track and Field and Cross Country as well as doing community service through local organizations. Acting as the Key Club Treasurer, Vincent spent a number of years volunteering and fundraising within his hometown. He was also an active member of the Future Business Leaders of America Club, and worked with his church youth organizations to raise funds and awareness for local and national causes. In 2001 he was awarded the State of New York Triple “C” Award for Character, Courage, and Commitment to his school and community. He was also given the Elks Club Award for Integrity and Commitment to Community in 2002.

Vincent then went on to SUNY Oswego and then the University at Albany. During his undergraduate career he became very active with Circle K, continuing his connection with Key/Kiwanis Club. He also played Men’s Rugby and got involved with the Department of Residential Life where he spent three years as a Resident Assistant. Through this role Vincent was able to continue his community service ventures. He was also awarded the prestigious Presidential Award for Undergraduate Research for his English Honors Thesis and acted as President for a Day with former President Kermit Hall (pictured above). He also spent two summers doing an internship with the New York Giants Football Team. After graduating from the University at Albany with a double minor and an Honors Degree in English he went on to complete a Masters Degree from the University at Albany and, after being awarded the Broughton Graduate Fellowship, a second from The Sage Colleges. From 2006 to 2009 Vincent worked as a Resident Director and adjunct faculty for The Sage Colleges. During this time he did a number of community service events: Parson’s Child and Family Center fundraising, Relay for Life American Cancer Society Committee Member, AIDS Council of Northeastern New York, Historic Albany Foundation, The Academy for Character Education, and got involved with a number of other organizations. In 2009 Vincent was awarded the Albert N. Husted Fellowship to do volunteer, teaching, and research in South Africa with Harvard University’s Center for International Development.

Vincent is currently the Assistant Dean of Students and adjunct faculty member at The Sage Colleges located in the capital region of Albany and Troy, New York. He is finishing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and is also pursuing an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the Sage Graduate School (anticipated completion in 2012) as well as a Ph.D. in Film and Media Studies from the University of Cape Town in South Africa (anticipated completion in 2013). Vincent is also the recipient of various scholarships and fellowships from The Sage Colleges, University at Albany and Harvard University.

Education has aways been an important focus in Dean Porfirio’s life. In 2007 he became involved with the Academy for Character Education; a not-for-profit advisory board that works across New York State and much of the Northeast to help foster the character traits of responsibility, civility, respect, honesty, fairness, trustworthiness and citizenship in students throughout the educational spectrum as well as in families and communities. That same year Dean Porfirio was asked to act as a Leadership Board Member and has been an active board member with the Academy ever since.

Vincent also established The Paden Foundation in 2009. Named after his grandparents, he hopes the foundation will raise funds to sponsor youths in developing and third world countries. He has also spearheaded a new partnership between The Sage Colleges and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) that will have him instructing TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) to refugees and immigrants relocated to the city of Albany, New York. These classes will be offered free and open to the general public and will allow those entering the country to learn the English language and aid in their transition to the USA.

In May of 2010 he was also voted on to the Historic Albany Foundation Board for the city of Albany and to act as First Vice-President for the Delmar Kiwanis Club. Vincent continues to do a number of  works locally, nationally, and abroad.

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