ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Monroe Community College has lost one of its most transformative figures with the passing of Dr. Peter A. Spina, the college’s longest-serving president and a nationally recognized pioneer in community college education.
Dr. Spina, who died peacefully in Irondequoit on November 30, 2025, led MCC from 1982 to 1999, a 17-year tenure that saw enrollment soar, campuses expand, and the college emerge as a model for accessible, innovative higher education across the United States.
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“Peter Spina didn’t just grow a college—he changed what a community college could be,” said current MCC President Dr. DeAnna Burt-Nanna. “Every student who walks through our doors today, every scholarship awarded, every seamless transfer to a four-year university, carries his fingerprint.”
Under Dr. Spina’s leadership, MCC opened the downtown Damon City Campus, built the Applied Technologies Center, and launched the Guon Child Care Center—moves that dramatically increased access for working parents, first-generation students, and underserved communities. He also founded the Monroe Community College Foundation, which has since provided millions in scholarships and program support.
Perhaps his most enduring innovation was championing MCC’s 2+2 articulation agreements with four-year institutions, a framework now considered standard across the country and credited with helping tens of thousands of students earn bachelor’s degrees affordably.
His influence reached far beyond Rochester. Dr. Spina guided MCC into the prestigious League for Innovation in the Community College and later served as the league’s chairman. In 2002 he received the Association of Community College Trustees’ Thomas
Peters Leadership Award, one of the highest honors in the field.
In 2007, the college permanently honored his legacy by renaming its flagship Building 1 the Peter A. Spina Administration Building.
“Peter always said the measure of a college isn’t the buildings or the budget—it’s how many lives you change,” recalled Dr. Joel Frater, executive dean emeritus and a close colleague. “By that measure, he built one of the greatest community colleges in America.”
Following Dr. Spina’s wishes, no formal memorial service will be held. In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions to the MCC Foundation—the very organization he created to ensure future generations have the opportunities he spent his career fighting for.
“His vision lives in every classroom, every scholarship, and every graduate who started their journey here,” the college said in a statement. “Dr. Spina’s legacy is Monroe Community College itself.”