SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry President Joanie Mahoney plans to retire in 2027, but will remain in the job until SUNY trustees appoint her successor, the college announced Tuesday.
Mahoney told ESF trustees, academic department chairs and her cabinet about the decision Tuesday morning, according to a release emailed by the college. She said the early notice is intended to give the trustees and SUNY Chancellor John King time for a search while she works on fall 2027 student recruitment and a plan to balance the Syracuse college's operating budget.
The release does not set a retirement date or describe a timetable for the search. Mahoney will continue as president through the appointment, rather than leave at the start of the 2027 calendar year.
“I'm announcing my retirement today, so Chancellor King and the ESF Board of Trustees have ample time to launch and conduct a broad and thorough search for ESF's next leader,” Mahoney said in the release.
Mahoney became ESF's fifth president in November 2020 after two years as chief operating officer. She was the first woman to lead the college and previously served as Onondaga County executive. The college said she will remain a tenured faculty member after retiring from the presidency; she is considering courses on women in leadership and the cleanup of Onondaga Lake.
Budget goal frames the transition
The college projects a balanced operating budget for fiscal 2027-28, which would be its first since 2017, according to the release. That is a target, not a completed turnaround. ESF reported an $8 million deficit in 2022-23 and said its five-year fiscal stability plan is meant to bring spending, staffing, enrollment and revenue into alignment.
Mahoney said that securing a balanced budget and recruiting first-year, transfer and graduate students for fall 2027 will remain her two priorities during the search. The plan calls for controls on spending alongside investment in faculty and facilities, and for workforce levels to reflect enrollment and program needs.
ESF said a voluntary separation program Mahoney initiated last year is producing $2.5 million in annual salary savings. The release also points to efforts to increase graduate-program revenue and research grants and contracts. It does not say those measures alone will close the remaining budget gap or guarantee a balanced 2027-28 result.
The college said direct state support rose by $6.4 million, or 33%, over the past four years. Mahoney also pursued shared services: ESF signed a July agreement to share police services with Upstate Medical University and, last week, an agreement to share procurement services with SUNY Oswego. The release gives no savings estimate for either arrangement.
ESF completed a $43.5 million capital campaign earlier this year, exceeding its fundraising goal by $3.5 million. The college says the money will support 78 academic and research initiatives, scholarships, facility improvements and internships. Fundraising for designated purposes is distinct from eliminating an operating deficit.
Faculty, facilities and programs
During Mahoney's presidency, ESF completed a $45 million reconstruction of Marshall Hall in August 2023 and completed reaccreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 2022, the release says. The college also says it hired more than 20 research faculty members after launching a recruitment campaign in 2022.
Those hires were intended to build work in water science, the bioeconomy, Indigenous environmental science, urban sustainability, and tree and ecosystem restoration. The release describes the hires as a research investment but does not provide a count by field or a separate funding total for the campaign.
Mahoney helped launch the Timbuctoo Climate Science and Careers Summer Institute in 2023 with Adirondack and legislative partners, according to ESF. The college says she pressed to expand its ESF in the High School program and partnered with the Museum of Science and Technology on a free Summer Science Week for Onondaga County students entering ninth grade.
Her administration managed the college's transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. ESF says the Marshall Hall project began while that response was underway, adding a major facilities undertaking to the period.
Search and next steps
King credited Mahoney with pairing the college's goals with a path toward financial stability. ESF Board of Trustees Chairman John Bartow said the board will help with the leadership transition while concentrating on fall 2027 enrollment and the operating-budget target.
The college has not named search committee members or a process for choosing finalists in its announcement. SUNY's Board of Trustees will make the formal appointment, and Mahoney will remain president until that happens.
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