CAZENOVIA, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — After announcing that they will be closing their doors following the spring 2023 semester, Cazenovia College has revealed Dr. John Robert Green will be the keynote speaker for their final commencement.

The 198th commencement will take place on Saturday, May 13, 2023, on the Cazenovia College campus Quad at 10:30 a.m.

Dr. Greene was a Paul J. Schupf Professor of History and Humanities at Cazenovia College prior to his retirement this January. He was known as “the national face of Cazenovia College,” exemplifying its ideals, goals, and mission. For alumni, he represents a fixture of their time at the College as a supportive but challenging professor, according to Cazenovia College.

In 2022, Dr. Greene reached 42 years of teaching at the college since starting in the fall of 1979.

He became a full-time faculty member in 1984, was tenured in 1987 and was named Distinguished Faculty Member in 1993.

“Dr. Greene has been a teacher and mentor to students as well as colleagues. He encompasses so much of what Cazenovia College has stood for and his dedication to the College made it most fitting that he be the one to address the College and our graduates in the last commencement ceremony,” said College President, Dr. David Bergh.

He was awarded the College’s first endowed chair, the Paul J. Schupf Chair in History and Humanities, in 2000 and a Distinguished Service Award in 2021. Upon his retirement in January, Dr. Greene was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus, according to Cazenovia College.

He was the program director of the History program, served several terms as chair of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division and co-directed the dual major program in History and Social Science. Dr. Greene was the director of the Wheler Conference on World Affairs and director of the Washburn Junior Research and Teaching Fellowship Programs, the advisor to the Alpha Chi Honor Society and the College archivist, publishing the book, Generations of Excellence: An Illustrated Biography of Cazenovia College in 2000.

Dr. Greene has also written or edited 20 books and even was the manager at the campus radio station.