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Gordon Alley-Young: New Dean of Faculty  

Gordon Alley-Young, the new Dean of Faculty, has been a mainstay at KCC for over 17 years. He shares some of the changes he’s experienced over the years and what KCC means to him.

"As a newly graduated Ph.D. eager to find a position, the job searching process taught me the importance of finding an academic home where I was accepted and valued. When the time came in 2004 to accept a position, I had choices to make, and my choice was Kingsborough,” he recounts. "In my time at KCC, I’ve learned and grown as a teacher, a scholar, and as a leader. I had the great honor to be elected to represent my Communications and Performing Arts colleagues as their chairperson.” 

Before earning his Ph.D. and joining KCC, Gordon worked as a journalist and as a media and community relations liaison in his native country, Canada. "When I moved to the US, I worked in Residence Life as a live-in student residence director at the University of Maine (UM), the latter where, in 1999, my husband Warren, then partner, and I were the first in the department to be granted domestic partner benefits. The acceptance and inclusion that we experienced at UM set an expectation for us for the future, so when we were so warmly embraced at KCC, my decision was an easy one."

Gordon’s time in Communications and Performing Arts paved the way for future opportunities he never realized would unfold. Through an amazing support system, he was pushed to consider greater responsibilities. "My colleagues in Communications and Performing Arts helped me to make the decision to apply for the Dean of Faculty position when they first trusted me to be their Chairperson. It was rewarding being able to support my colleagues in their work and to celebrate their successes while we worked together to solve problems,” he says. "In the position of dean of faculty, I see the chance to work with faculty across the College in new and exciting ways, and to give back some of what was given to me when I came to KCC."

"If the last year has taught me anything, it is to adopt a provisional perspective. I think this mindset is best captured by my favorite quote by Maya Angelou who said, 'Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.' This is a principle I live by and it is one that I hope to bring into my new position as Dean of Faculty so that I can be responsive to work that needs to be done. Gordon intends to devote his time to talking with and listening to faculty and colleagues. "I want the work that I do moving forward to speak to what is important to them."