Regina Peruggi | |
|---|---|
 Peruggi in 2008 | |
| President ofKingsborough Community College | |
| In office January 2005 – August 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Fred Malamet |
| Succeeded by | Stuart Suss (interim) |
| President ofMarymount Manhattan College | |
| In office 1990–2001 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1947 (age 77–78) |
| Spouse | |
| Education | College of New Rochelle (BA) New York University (MBA) Columbia University (EdD) |
| Profession | Educator |
Regina S. Peruggi (bornc. 1947)[1] is an Americaneducator, who was the President ofKingsborough Community College from 2005 to 2014, the first woman to hold that position in the college's 40-year history.[2] Prior to that, she was president ofMarymount Manhattan College and led theCentral Park Conservancy. For 14 years (from 1968 to 1982), she was married to her second cousin,Rudy Giuliani.
Peruggi grew up in amiddle class family inthe Bronx.[3] She is the daughter of Salvatore Orestus Peruggi and Anna Marie Fink. She is also the second cousin and ex-wife of former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani. She attendedRoman Catholicparochial schools.[4] She earned aBachelor of Arts insociology from theCollege of New Rochelle in 1967.[4][3]
She started her career as adrug abusecounselor in a state jail.[3][5] She worked as ateacher at theelementary school,college, andgraduate school levels.[3] In 1974 she joinedYork College of The City University of New York,[3] then moved toWashington, D.C., withRudy Giuliani and worked as a coordinator at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington.[6] Around 1980 she returned to school,[7] and then earned aMaster of Business Administration fromNew York University.
By 1984 Peruggi worked in the central office of the City University system, and again returned to school at night,[7] earning aDoctor of Education fromTeachers College, Columbia University.[3] By 1986, she had become anassociate dean for theCity University of New York system, specializing inadult education programs.[3]
In 1990, Peruggi was named president ofMarymount Manhattan College, a position she held for eleven years; during this time the college's enrollment doubled.[3] At Marymount, she was credited with turning around the institution financially, in part by recruiting wealthy business personages to the college's Board of Trustees.[8] One professor said, "She's great at fund-raising, beefed up the student body and the faculty, devoted to community outreach and diversity, and brought a great moxie to the school."[8]
She served as the second President of theCentral Park Conservancy from 2001 to 2004,[3] where she sought to continue its restoration[7] via increased fund-raising[4] and appeared on thePBSreality television showBack to the Floor.[9]
Peruggi was named president of Kingsborough Community College in May 2004.[3] Under Peruggi's leadership, Kingsborough Community College experienced record-high enrollment numbers.[10] It was also named one of the top four community colleges in the country when it was chosen as a Finalist with Distinction for the 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.[10] Having reached age 65, she announced she was stepping down in April 2014, effective at the end of the coming summer.[11][10]
Peruggi has served on theboard of directors of the GreenPoint Foundation, theAmerican Red Cross ofGreater New York, the Silver Shield Foundation, and the Center for Redirection Through Education.[3] In 2006 she was honored as a 2006 New York State Senate Woman of Distinction.[12] By 2009, Peruggi was the Chairperson Emerita and Chairperson of the Commissioners of theWomen's Commission For Refugee Women and Children; on the Board of Managers of the Havens Relief Fund Society; and on the boards ofBerkeley College, theAcademy of Mount St. Ursula High School, the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, theBrooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and theInternational Longevity Center.[13] In 2008, Peruggi was named to the Commission on Lifelong Learning of theAmerican Council on Education and around the same time was named to the Advisory Board of the Student World Assembly.[13]
On October 26, 1968, Peruggi marriedRudy Giuliani, her second cousin, whom she had known since childhood. In 1975, the couple agreed to a trial separation.[14] Giuliani met local television personalityDonna Hanover in 1982, and they began dating when she was working in Miami. Giuliani filed forlegal separation from Peruggi on August 12, 1982.[14] The Giuliani-Peruggi marriage legally ended in two ways: a civil divorce was issued by the end of 1982,[4] while a Roman Catholic churchannulment of the Giuliani-Peruggi marriage was granted at the end of 1983[14] reportedly because Giuliani had discovered that he and Peruggi weresecond cousins.[15][16]Alan Placa, Giuliani's best man, later became a priest and helped get the annulment. Giuliani and Peruggi did not have any children.[17]
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