Two Regents seats to be filled

On Board Online • November 3, 2014

By Cathy Woodruff
Staff Writer

The state Legislature will have two vacancies to fill on the state Board of Regents in its upcoming session. Geraldine Chapey of Queens has resigned after 16 years of service and Harry Phillips III of Westchester County, who has represented the lower Hudson Valley since 2000, plans to step down when he finishes his current five-year term on March 31.

"I feel great, but, at 88, I can only decline," Phillips told the Journal News of Poughkeepsie. "My wife is the same age and will need me at home. I'm human." Phillips announced his decision to retire in October.

Chapey has been absent from board meetings since March. The chancellor and the Board of Regents were notified of Chapey's retirement through a resignation letter dated June 5, according to State Education Department officials. No reason was cited.

A speech and language pathologist who served as academic dean in the School of Education and Human Services at CUNY, Chapey is a former New York City schools administrator and past president of School Board 27.

Chapey began her first five-year term as a Regent representing the 11th Judicial District in April 1998. She was re-elected by the Legislature to her fourth term last year, and whoever is selected as her successor would serve for the remainder of that term ending in March 2018.

Phillips is a former chairman of the Westchester Community College board. He was a founder of H&R Phillips insurance brokerage, the Management Compensation Group benefits consulting firm, book publisher Stein & Day and Datamark, a printer manufacturer. He also served as president of Geothermal Electric Corp.

Members of the Board of Regents are elected through a vote of the full Legislature. Because Democrats outnumber Republicans by a large margin, the process typically is directed by the Assembly's Democratic majority, which is led by Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan.

The next legislative session begins in January.