Melinda Treadwell named as the 14th president of SUNY Geneseo
Photo courtesy of The Geneseo Website
Melinda Treadwell, SUNY Geneseo’s newest, 14th president. Students and faculty welcome her to our community and are excited about her impressive career history.
At a little before 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, the SUNY Board of Trustees aired a live, short-notice broadcast of their weekly meeting where they revealed the name of the new president of SUNY Geneseo and allowed her to the floor to talk. As stated in a SUNY press release, Dr. Melinda Treadwell has been announced as the successor to Dr. Denise Battles, after “serving for eight years as President of Keene State College. She became president after having served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, and as dean of Professional & Graduate Studies.” She was Keene State’s first alumna president.
During this address, SUNY Chancellor Richard King stated, “Dr. Melinda Treadwell’s credentials are impeccable, having a longstanding and successful career as an academic, administrator, faculty member, and researcher in both the public and private sectors.” This was followed by additional praise for Treadwell, lauding her as “a champion for public higher education.”
The press release elaborated on Treadwell’s history, stating, “[She] joined the college as a faculty member in 2000 in the Safety and Occupational Health Applied Sciences department. She served as a principal investigator on many federal projects and developed research and teaching opportunities for Keene State students.” The release continued, “She has experience in management of environment, safety, and health programs, and in developing state and national policy…In the private sector, Dr. Treadwell led as a toxicologist and public health policy advisor.” In addition to this, Treadwell has also “served at an executive level on numerous national bodies, including most recently the Council on Public Liberal Arts Colleges; NCAA (Division III Management Council and Presidents Advisory Group); New England Commission of Higher Education; and the New Hampshire College and University Council.”
Dr. Treadwell graduated in 1990 from Keene State College where she majored in industrial safety and minored in chemistry. Treadwell attended Dartmouth Medical School, earning her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology. As well as working as a toxicologist, she also worked as a public health policy advisor. In 2012, she decided to reenter the academic sphere, being taken on as interim provost at Keene State; from there she worked her way up, eventually becoming president.
Treadwell has stated that “Geneseo’s identity as New York’s public honors college is compelling and critically important to the future of the region and state.” An email from Mary Toale announcing Treadwell’s new position commented that, “Her leadership style emphasizes community engagement and student-centered initiatives that align perfectly with our values.” Christian Valentino expressed his own enthusiasm for the selection, adding that, “As the chair of the search committee and a longstanding member of SUNY Geneseo’s College Council, I am sincerely excited about the future of SUNY Geneseo” with Treadwell at the helm.
While Dr. Treadwell’s efforts have yet to be seen on campus; it is certain that the hopes and aspirations of the Board of Trustees and various SUNY Geneseo administration members remain high. Even so, in an effort to gain perspective on the newly dubbed 14th president of SUNY Geneseo, we at The Lamron have reached out to the newspaper of Keene State College, The Equinox, for comment and potential interview—stay tuned for more on Dr. Treadwell and her work, both academically and professionally in action.