Oswego County Administrator Philip Church, who led the successful effort to create the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary, will keynote SUNY Oswego’s upcoming Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 14.
The December Commencement ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall in Marano Campus Center.
Church is the chief administrative officer and budget officer for county government. He also serves as president-elect of the Board of Directors of the New York State Association of Counties.
He was an early organizer and ongoing leader in creating the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary, approved in 2024 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Including the waters adjacent to Oswego, Jefferson, Cayuga and Wayne counties, it is just the 16th federal sanctuary of its kind. Church currently serves as an ex-officio government representative on the Sanctuary Advisory Council.
Church also serves on the New York Sea Grant Program Advisory Council; the National Association of Counties Environment, Energy and Land Use Steering Committee; the executive committee of the Early Childhood Alliance; and was the founding chair of the Literacy Coalition of Oswego County.
As County Administrator, he supervises all appointed department heads of the 1,000+ workforce, and develops and manages the $260 million annual budget, plus capital plan. Church advises the County Legislature on all policy and budgetary matters and implements the decisions of the Legislature. The county’s departments provide a full range of public services including health, social services, law enforcement, economic development, aging and youth services, public works, solid waste management, facilities, procurement, information technology, records, personnel and internal government support services. In addition, Church is a principal negotiator of tax agreements with nuclear power generators.
He has a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and bachelor’s degrees in history and anthropology from the University at Buffalo.
SUNY Oswego's December 2024 Commencement ceremony will honor hundreds of undergraduates and graduate students in front of family, friends and supporters in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall in Marano Campus Center. For more information, visit oswego.edu/commencement.
The ceremony also will stream live on the university's YouTube channel, youtube.com/sunyoswegovideo.