Dr. Tony Damewood, Clarkson College’s president since 2016, has resigned, and his mentor, Dr. Louis Burgher, has resigned as president emeritus, a Clarkson spokesman said.
Aubray Orduña, dean of nursing, took over the interim presidency. Orduña joined Clarkson College in 1978 as a part-time faculty member.
In an email Damewood sent to the college last week, he first cited Burgher’s resignation as president emeritus. Then Damewood wrote: “It is also with a heavy heart that I offer my resignation as President of Clarkson College.”
No reasons were mentioned. Burgher was president from 2007-2016. He was lauded for increasing Clarkson’s enrollment and for generally bringing stability to the health care college at 42nd and Dodge Streets.
Burgher said three years ago that he selected Damewood to succeed him and the board agreed. Damewood had worked in a variety of administrative jobs at Clarkson over about 16 years before taking over the presidency in August 2016.
Clarkson spokesman Alex Maltese said that as far as he knew, the resignations were made amicably. “We haven’t been told otherwise,” Maltese said.
