Dean Lisa Dresdner Taking on Leadership Role at Naugatuck Valley Community College

On August 1, President Daisy Cocco De Filippis will be retiring as president of Naugatuck Community College after 12 years at the helm.  Effective July 17, 2020, President Mark Ojakian has selected Dr. Lisa Dresdner, Dean of the Academic Affairs at NVCC to serve as the Interim Campus Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the campus.  

“President DeFilippis has served as a role model and a mentor to countless students, faculty and staff,” President Ojakian said. “The positive influence she has had on so many individuals will be remembered and treasured long after her retirement from the presidency of Naugatuck Valley Community College.”

Dr. Dresdner joined the Naugatuck staff in 2015 as the Associate Dean of Liberal Arts/Behavioral and Social Sciences and was selected in 2018 to serve in her current role.  Before joining the team at Naugatuck Valley, Dr. Dresdner was a professor of English at Norwalk Community College from 2000-2015 where she rose through the ranks becoming a tenured, full professor in 2007.   During her years at Norwalk she took a faculty leave to serve as the college’s Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, served as Chair of the English Department and Writing Coordinator and co-founded and obtained a three-year operational grant to create the Fairfield County Women’s Center at the college, serving as its Director from 2004-2005.   She also has served on the governing body at Norwalk, on multiple search committees at Naugatuck and served as a visiting team member for the New England Commission of Higher Education. Dr. Dresdner is a member of the United Way of Greater Waterbury’s Board of Directors and serves on the Governing Council and is Treasurer of the Waterbury Arts and Culture Collaborative.  

“I appreciate Dr. Dresdner’s willingness to take on this leadership role as well as the energy and enthusiasm she will bring to the campus and most importantly our students,” President Ojakian added. "I look forward to working with her to build on the progress made under President De Filippis."

President De Filippis noted, “I am delighted that Dr. Lisa Dresdner has been named the Interim CEO of NVCC to lead the college. I am confident that she will guide NVCC through the pandemic reopening, the upcoming NECHE accreditation process and other significant initiatives. Dr. Dresdner has demonstrated her commitment to our students and proven her leadership with faculty and her understanding of college governance.” President De Filippis further notes that “Her more than two decades of experience as a college educator and student champion at NVCC and at Norwalk Community College will serve our programs and services well. I offer my most enthusiastic congratulations to Dr. Dresdner and the NVCC family!”

Dr. James Lombella, Regional President for the Northwest Region, who supervises all the campus leaders in his region, shared his enthusiasm for working with Dr. Dresdner. “Dr. Dresdner has occupied many important leadership roles during her tenure at NVCC and she has earned the respect of staff and faculty colleagues, students, and administrators at the college. I look forward to working with Dr. Dresdner in her new role and have every confidence that she will lead NVCC through this unprecedented period in such a manner that the college will be even stronger as a result.”

Naugatuck Valley Community College, one of 12 community colleges in Connecticut, is a comprehensive community college offering 72 associate degrees and 42 certificates. The college has two NECHE-accredited campuses in Waterbury and Danbury and has championed student degree completions, high licensure rates and job placements to the benefit of the communities it serves in its 22-town region.