Longtime leader to conclude 30-year tenure, calls Wagner College “strong and poised to thrive”
Angelo Araimo, president of Wagner College, announced his retirement on Monday, effective after the close of the 2023-24 academic year.
Araimo has been an invaluable senior administrator of the college since he arrived on Grymes Hill in January 1994 as director of admissions. When he retires next summer, Araimo will leave behind a three-decade legacy of growing Wagner’s enrollment and endowment, expanding academic programs, strengthening the Seahawks’ Division I athletics programs, and enhancing campus living and learning facilities.
“I fell in love with this place, its people, and the community that exists here. That feeling has never gone away and is stronger today than ever,” Araimo wrote in a letter to campus on Monday announcing his decision. “The College is strong and poised to thrive in the years ahead.”
Angelo Araimo at Wagner College:
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He played a pivotal role in the college under three presidents. When he was named vice president for advancement in 2013, he led Wagner to eight straight record-breaking Day of Giving fundraisers, including a 2021 event that drew more than $1 million in donations in a single day. After Araimo was named senior vice president in 2017, admissions, advancement, athletics and communications all reported to him.
Araimo assumed the top post in an interim capacity in October 2021. The Board of Trustees named him Wagner’s 20th president in April 2022.
“The Board of Trustees joins the faculty, staff, and wider Wagner community in extending profound gratitude to President Araimo for his steadfast leadership as president and throughout 30 years of service,” said Jeffrey Forchelli, Esq. ’66, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “Given the enduring trust and confidence the board and community place in President Araimo, he will also play a key role in helping the board identify Wagner's next president.”
Having welcomed more than 400 freshmen and another 100 transfer students to start the academic year – Wagner’s largest incoming class in five years – Araimo will continue to oversee major campus renovations during the final year of his tenure. There will be celebrations, too: Alumni and families come to campus for Wagner Weekend on September 22 to September 23, and the college will commemorate the 25th anniversary of its signature curriculum, the Wagner Plan, in early October.
Before joining Wagner, Araimo, a Queens native, led admissions at St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s in history from St. John’s University, where he also worked toward a doctorate in modern world history. He and his wife, Mary, have two children: Christopher and Catherine.
