Office of the President: Overview

Joseph S. Brosnan began his tenure as the 12th president of Delaware Valley College in August 2007. Dr. Brosnan came to DelVal after serving as Vice President for Strategic Planning and External Affairs at Teachers College, Columbia University for 12 years.  As a senior officer, Dr. Brosnan led a $155 million capital campaign, the largest amount raised by a school of education in the nation, and provided leadership in areas including technology, finances, development, strategic planning and public affairs. He worked closely with two of Teachers’ presidents to build a strong and active Board of Trustees.

Dr. Brosnan has been deeply involved in development and external-relations activities at several institutions of higher education. He possesses tremendous leadership skills and an ability to bring diverse groups of people together around common goals.  He has completed the New Presidents’ Institute and the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.

Prior to his time at Teachers, Dr. Brosnan served as President of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., from 1990 to 1995 where he instituted a master of arts in Middle Grades Education, which has been recognized as one of the 12 best middle-grade teacher prep programs in the country, and was also a member of the psychology faculty. His research interests include the educational and vocational decision-making process of college students and the strategic decision-making process.

Dr. Brosnan’s career has spanned several decades and reached all function areas of higher education. He was Senior Vice President for University Relations at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, N.Y., Chief Advancement Officer and Executive Director of the Potsdam College Foundation for the State University of New York at Potsdam and Associate Dean of Students at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Born in 1946, Dr. Brosnan now resides in Doylestown on the campus of Delaware Valley College. His daughter, Michelle, lives in Charlotte, N.C. with her husband and family, and his son, Stephen, lives with his wife in Toms River, N.J.

Dr. Brosnan earned his bachelor’s degree from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and his master’s and doctorate in counseling psychology from the State University of New York at Albany. 

Dr. Brosnan serves on the Board of Directors of the national “I Have a Dream Foundation,” empowering children from low-income communities to attain a college degree.