Tony Liss
It is my pleasure to announce and welcome Dr. Marc Ostfield as the new Dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. Dr. Ostfield was chosen after a nationwide search that began last spring and culminated with the campus visits of four accomplished finalists early in the Fall semester.
Dr. Ostfield spent the past 23 years in the U.S. Department of State, most recently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay from 2022 to 2025. He also led the Foreign Service Institute, the State Department’s diplomatic training academy, from 2013-2018, responsible for the training of U.S. diplomats and other U.S. Government foreign affairs professionals.
Dr. Ostfield comes to us with a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in conflict, group dynamics, and leadership. His publication record includes papers on international affairs, negotiation, and global health. He has taught on the same subjects at Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania.
Dean Ostfield will join us on January 26, 2026, the first day of Spring Semester classes, on leave from an appointment as a Professor of Political Science to assume the deanship.
I am excited to welcome Dean Ostfield to campus and to begin this new chapter for the Colin Powell School and CCNY. I want to take this opportunity to give my sincerest thank you to Interim Dean Kevin Foster for his second tour of duty as interim dean and his leadership in keeping the great progress of the school going while we searched for a permanent replacement for Andy Rich. I also want to extend my thanks to the search committee who worked quickly and diligently to deliver an exceptionally strong pool of four finalists to campus. Marc Ostfield stood out in that group and I know he will be a great addition to our campus.