The Ithaca College Board of Trustees announced that President La Jerne Cornish will complete her term June 30, 2027. In an email sent to the IC community June 23, John Neeson ’84, chair of the board of trustees, said Cornish remains committed to IC’s institutional priorities over the next year.
Amy Falkner, dean of Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communications and Michael Johnson-Cramer, dean of the School of Business, will depart from IC this summer. Melanie Stein, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, announced Falkner and Johnson-Cramer’s departure in a June 9 email to the campus community.
Several Ithaca College faculty members retired from teaching at the end of Spring 2026. The Ithacan spoke with some of the retiring faculty members about their careers and memories at IC.
Rebecca Lesses, associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Ithaca College, loves learning from other generations.
Pablo Cohen, professor in the Ithaca College Department of Music Performance, has performed across the globe at iconic venues like Carnegie Hall, earned permanent residency in the United States based on extraordinary talent and recorded multiple compositions and solo albums. However, Cohen said he is most proud of his job at IC.Â
Shannon Scott, associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Ithaca College, said she loves learning so much that she would pursue a career as a full-time student if she could get paid for it.
Patrice Pastore, professor in the Department of Music Performance, believes she had an unconventional path to teaching voice at Ithaca College, but she is grateful that IC has become her home over the last 43 years.
Lynne Hewitt returned to her undergraduate college town in January 2020 to become professor and chair of the Department of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology at Ithaca College. Since graduating from Cornell University, Hewitt has completed graduate degrees and taught in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Zealand, before returning to Ithaca to close out her career.
Arhlene Flowers, professor in the Department of Strategic Communication, traveled to more than 40 countries and almost 30 states while working in marketing and public relations. After two decades of working for global agencies and corporations, Flowers felt something was missing — and made the transition from conference rooms to Ithaca College classrooms in 2006.
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