Stuart Steiner: Leaving at the 'top of his game' and reaping a special reward

This is the second in our series on the 2010 Chamber of Commerce award winners. The awards will be presented at a dinner at the Clarion Hotel on Saturday.

The inaugural Genesee County Lifetime Achievement Award of the local chamber of commerce will be presented Saturday to retiring college President Stuart Steiner, Ed.D. The accolade will be a singular coda for an exceptional career.

By all accounts, it is altogether fitting that this renowned educator, who leaves his post at Genesee Community College on Aug. 31, should get this unique honor.

During his 44 years at the GCC, 36 as president, he has worked relentlessly to make what used to be known as "junior college" more attainable, affordable and respectable. Nationally recognized for his solid and indefatigable leadership in education, he has brought GCC to new heights in every respect, according to community leaders.

In his comfortable office at the Batavia campus, the Maryland native talked about how pleased he is to be honored by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce at its 39th Annual Awards Ceremony.

His eyes seem to "smile" when he talks and he smiles a lot, too. His voice is soft and low and he's easy to chat with, a guy students can talk to, even play Ping-Pong with, seriously.

He motioned toward the MedTech building across the street, the new athletic fields, and indicated that most of what he set out to do has been accomplished.

So after two consecutive academic years of record enrollments and sound financials, with new labor contracts in place, and good relations with staff, faculty and the Genesee County Legislature -- he's taking his late wife Rosalie's advice.

"(Roz) said 'I know you love the job. You get up and you still go to work at 6:30, quarter to 7, in the morning. ... But when you decide that maybe it's time to retire, pick a time when everything's going right, when you're at the top of your game."

Steiner looks back and takes a lot of pride in what's taken place.

"It's enjoyable to see people who the college made a difference in their lives and the lives of their families," Steiner said. "It's not a theoretical difference. That's just a delightful thing."

Time was when going to that hilltop "high school with an ashtray" meant slouching toward a place of second-rate learning, where you went when you couldn't get into a "real" college. 

But over the years that perception waned because it could be proven that the quality of instruction and the transferability of credits earned would make it possible for more students to attend say, the University of Buffalo or even Cornell, as juniors. From a practical standpoint, for parents, that meant that a four-year university that was out of reach financially, could become at least a feasible option.

The degree earned comes from the graduating college. It doesn't say, the "first two years at a community college," Steiner said.

Add to that the surge in working adults, so-called "nontraditional students," needing job-specific instruction, and more people wanting certificate courses, and junior colleges grew up to become community colleges.

Steiner saw the changes and helped encourage the trends. Today, GCC typically has students from more than 20 different nations and more than 40 counties statewide.

The success story that is GCC would not be possible, Steiner repeatedly notes, without being able to delegate to quality staff members and instructors.

"You have to have a great support team and staff," Steiner said. "You can't run it and have a good college if you don't have other people who are good at their jobs."

There's high praise from Steiner about the college's foundation board and the board of trustees. Over the years, the men and women involved have helped steer the course, raise the money, get the buildings built and more. Ditto the county legislators.

(He happens to be the second-longest-serving community college president in the nation. Here's true kismet -- In the early years, he accepted a job at a community college in Maryland and there was another person hired there, same day, same hour, same type of job -- a director -- who is now the president of Westchester Community College. And that man is the longest-serving community college president in the nation.)

A lot of fancy degrees are on Steiner's office wall, including a doctorate in education and also in law, master's degrees and an AA degree from Baltimore Junior College (as it was called then). So he, too, started at a community college.

But of all his awards, honors and degrees, his crowning moment comes April 15 when the Rosalie "Roz" Steiner Art Gallery opens at the campus. She herself was a highly regarded artist.

"The decency that the board recognized that I couldn't do all that I was able to do if she wasn't doing a lot of the support work. She worked with the board, she hosted things. She did things in the community.

"That's the highlight -- to have the kids there and let them see their mom recognized for the work she did, not because she was my wife. I think that's important."