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Birth:          16 Nov 1922 New Haven, Conn.
Death:          13 Dec 2007 Staten Island, New York, N.Y.

Notes
fb post 4 Dec 2021 Ottaviano De Biase
professor and university principal
1943, grad Univ of Michigan, English degree
1943-46 US Army, Panama, Pacific
faculty, Columbia Univ, Faculty Principal, Columbia Univ
taught at University of Rennes, Fulbright Scholar in Grenoble, France
1974 Magnificent Rector, Richmond College, Staten Island College
published dozens of books and articles. His "A Reader's Guide to William Faulkner" 
(1964), in print for more than 40 years.
Rotunda at Staten Island College Library named after him, also onored at John 
Calandra Italian American Institute, Italian Club of Staten Island, Order of the Sons of 
Italy, and others
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/edmond-volpe-obituary?
pid=99653869
VOLPE--Dr. Edmond L. First President of the College of Staten Island, died Friday, 
December 14th, at Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island. He was 85. 
Along with creating the College of Staten Island in 1976, Dr. Volpe was also a 
prominent literary critic specializing in modern American literature, especially the work 
of William Faulkner. Prior to becoming president of Richmond College in 1974, he was 
Chairman of The City College of New York, Department of English. In 1976, he was 
appointed first President of the College of Staten Island. For funeral service details, 
contact Casey Funeral Home, Staten Island, 718-447-4242
https://www.silive.com/news/2007/12/first_president_of_college_of.html
Dr. Edmond Volpe, the first president of the College of Staten Island, hoped to give 
every Staten Islander the chance to pursue and complete his or her chosen course of 
higher education.

On the morning he was appointed to head the former Richmond College, the institution 
that preceded CSI, Dr. Volpe eagerly called a friend and longtime colleague with the 
news:

"I got it!" the early riser exclaimed into the phone, just after the break of dawn.


The personal triumph represented the opportunity for Dr. Volpe to map out ambitious 
plans for the college, which would unexpectedly become folded, two years later, into a 
new four-year college in CSI; his broad visions for higher education on Staten Island 
would come to reshape the new university and the borough at large.

Dr. Volpe engineered the historic merger of the former Richmond College and Staten 
Island Community College, helped secure the school's current campus home in 
Willowbrook and developed the institution into a senior college within the City 
University of New York.

He saw the expansion of CSI's baccalaureate and graduate programs as a way to give 
all Islanders the chance to achieve their highest academic goals.

And after moving from Manhattan to the sprawling outer borough, he also saw that the 
college could act as a village square for the entire Island community, and a new 
center for the Island's artistic and intellectual life.

Dr. Volpe, the English professor and William Faulkner scholar who served as CSI's 
president for 20 years, died today in Richmond University Medical Center. He was 85.

"No one contributed to our college's creation and early development more than our 
first president," CSI President Dr. Tomas D. Morales wrote in a statement to the 
college community yesterday morning. "We mourn his passing but rejoice in his life 
and the inestimable impact he made in our community and in our lives."

Dr. Volpe graduated from Hillhouse High School in his native New Haven, Conn., and 
received his bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan.




He served in Panama with the U.S. Army during World War II before completing a 
master's degree and a doctorate in English at Columbia University.

The professor of English and American literature joined the faculty of Manhattan's City 
College in 1954. He spent a year in France, beginning in the fall of 1960, as a 
Fulbright professor, teaching at the universities of Rennes and Grenoble. He served 
as chair of the City College Department of English from 1964 to 1970.

During his teaching career, Dr. Volpe published dozens of academic essays and 
monographs and gained acclaim for his scholarship on William Faulkner; his 1964 
critical study of the author's novels, "A Reader's Guide to William Faulkner," has 
remained in print for more than 40 years.

In 1974, upon his appointment as the third president of the former Richmond College 
of the City University of New York (CUNY), Dr. Volpe moved to the Howard Avenue 
president's home in Grymes Hill, and thereafter considered Staten Island his home. He 
would settle in St. George upon his retirement.

When Dr. Volpe took over Richmond College, it was an upper-division institution, 
offering junior, senior and graduate courses in St. George. He planned to expand the 
college's continuing education courses for adults, to strengthen the school's 
relationship with the community at large and to develop a new campus that was 
expected to open in Ocean Breeze.




But two years later, as the city faced a fiscal crisis, Richmond College was forced to 
merge with the Staten Island Community College, in what led, early on, to a difficult 
and volatile transition for the institutions' students, faculty and staff. CSI's Web site 
summarizes the "growing pains" of the late 1970s: Two venues, excess personnel, 
divergent curricula, duplicate departments and conflicting missions in the midst of a 
citywide budget crisis.

As the first president of CSI, Dr. Volpe steadied the shake-up and guided the 
unification of the two institutions into a single, four-year college.

He later became a key player, along with state Sen. John J. Marchi, in founding the 
Willowbrook campus-- the new, brick-and-mortar face of the metamorphosed institution 
that was completed in 1994.

During his 20-year tenure as CSI's president, Dr. Volpe was appointed to various 
university and national committees. He represented CUNY in delegations of the 
American Association of State Colleges and Universities to explore and establish 
exchange agreements in universities in China, Egypt, Italy, Korea, the former Soviet 
Union and other foreign nations.

Maintaining a global perspective on education, Dr. Volpe made various trips abroad, 
honoring Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov and meeting with Nobelist Andrei D. Sakharov to 
discuss human rights, disarmament and other international issues in 1987. He 
welcomed a 12-member delegation of educators from China and oversaw the arrival of 
the first group of foreign students from Nigeria in 1979.


Dr. Volpe was also appointed to the Mayor's Committee on Community Relations under 
Edward Koch.

The educator often worked with his wife of 57 years, the former Rose Marie Conte, in 
supporting local civic groups and fostering the link between CSI and the community. 
Mrs. Volpe, a pianist and music instructor, was especially active in encouraging 
extracurricular music and theater programs at the college, and bringing cultural 
exhibitions and productions to the campus.

The couple helped to found and nurture the Friends of the College of Staten Island, 
and Mrs. Volpe was a longtime organizer of the Starlight Ball, a major fund-raiser for 
college scholarships, and the International Festival, which celebrates Island diversity.

"They were a couple that was always seen at every Staten Island function," said 
former Borough President Guy Molinari of CSI's former president and first lady. "They 
were always there to lend support, no matter what the cause. Ed exuded class. He 
was a classy man who was down-to-earth and always, always willing to help."




Dr. Volpe was honored for his civic leadership by many organizations, including the 
United Jewish Appeal, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the Italian Club of 
Staten Island, the New York Urban League, the American Committee on Italian 
Migration, the Italian Welfare League, the YMCA and the Jacques Marchais Museum 
of Tibetan Art.

After retiring in 1994, Dr. Volpe continued to write and publish on the subject of 
college administration. Among his recent works were "Creating a College" (2000) and 
"The Comprehensive College: Heading Toward a New Direction in Higher Education" 
(2001).

"His presidency here was transformational in virtually every aspect of our school, from 
developing it as a senior college within The City University of New York, to his 
endless bridge-building between our campus, the Staten Island community and 
institutions of higher education around the world," said Dr. Morales, who met with Dr. 
Volpe in August, just days after he arrived on campus to fill the shoes of departing CSI 
president Marlene Springer.

"Dr. Volpe just had a love for this college and its faculty, students and staff," he 
recalled. "He connected the college in a very meaningful way to the people of Staten 
Island and I experience his legacy every day."

Several of Dr. Volpe's colleagues called the Advance to share their memories of Dr. 
Volpe and his legacy at the school.


"Dr. Volpe was a community titan who championed his vision to make available to 
every person on Staten Island the opportunity to pursue higher education," said former 
CSI spokeswoman Rosemarie Dressler. ".$?.$?. He saw potential in students who 
often doubted themselves and their beginnings. He gave them confidence by 
emphasizing that where they were heading was of greater importance."

"Open admissions at the university meant that everyone had a chance for higher 
education," said Dr. Shugrue, English professor emeritus at CSI and the longtime 
friend and colleague whom the college president had called with the news of his 
Richmond College appointment. "His vision built on that. What Ed saw was the 
chance for every Staten Islander to get a complete education."

Sen. Marchi, whose partnership with Dr. Volpe was crucial to founding of the college's 
Willowbrook campus, said last night that the late educator was "a very great fellow, 
really, who did a great deal for the college. He brought out the best in all of us, I 
think."


On the day the new campus opened, Dr. Volpe gave the entire faculty a chicken 
dinner, a key chain and a glass of champagne. "It was a day of true celebration," Dr. 
Shugrue remembered.

In March, the CSI campus celebrated Dr. Volpe's legacy by naming its library rotunda 
in his honor. Dr. Shugrue, who spoke at the ceremony, called Dr. Volpe a tough but 
inspiring boss, a born leader, a hard worker and a loyal friend.

Dr. Volpe loved opera and enjoyed reading, writing and traveling. He loved spending 
time with his daughters, Lisa Volpe and Rosalind Volpe Goodwin, and his 
grandchildren, Adrian Goodwin, Luke Fisher and the late Marianna Goodwin. He had 
also been very close to his sons-in-law, Paul Fisher and Frank Goodwin.

"He was very loving and very wise," said his daughter, Lisa Volpe. "He was a terrific 
listener and gave the most considered advice."

"His personality was magnetic," said Mrs. Volpe. "He was a man of well-chosen 
words."

Viewing arrangements have been scheduled for Friday, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A 
private, family service will follow. Arrangements are being handled by the Casey 
Funeral Home in Castleton Corners.

-- Contributed by Tevah Platt

Parents
VOLPE Giuseppe Domenico Giovanni (Joseph) (20 Mar 1893 - 1941)
MAISANO Rose S. (22 Apr 1896 - 29 Apr 1985)

Siblings
VOLPE Stanley Ugo (16 Jan 1921 - 17 Jul 2005)
VOLPE Edmond Loris (16 Nov 1922 - 13 Dec 2007)
VOLPE Joseph Henry (3 Nov 1924 - 26 Dec 2002)

Marriage To CONTE Rosa Maria ( - 12 May 2013)
    m.  

Notes


Children by CONTE Rosa Maria  - 12 May 2013
VOLPE Lisa ()
VOLPE Rosalind ()

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