Rachel Frick Cardelle

Presidential Spouse

State University of New York at Oneonta

Rachel Frick Cardelle has spent the first year of her husband’s presidency integrating into SUNY Oneonta and the larger community. Prior to moving to New York to become the First Lady of SUNY Oneonta, Rachel Frick Cardelle, Ph.D., served as Mount Wachusett Community College’s Vice President for Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development in Massachusetts. In this role, she oversaw the workforce and corporate training, adult education and ESL program, programming for incarcerated students, and personal enrichment classes. She also oversaw the college’s co-directorship of the MassHire North Central Region. Previously, Rachel worked at Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania as Associate Dean of the college’s Monroe Campus, opening the newly built branch campus and serving as the chief operating officer. Prior to that, she served the college as a Grants Specialist securing over $5 million annually for the college in funding. In addition, she worked as adjunct faculty teaching Spanish, Political Science, and College Success. Before entering higher education, Rachel worked for 20 years in international and domestic community development in Central and South America, Washington, D.C. and Miami, Florida. Rachel received her bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the University of Colorado, her master's degree in International Economics and Social Change from Johns Hopkins University, and her Ph.D. in Higher Education Studies from the Pennsylvania State University, where she served as a research assistant at the Center for Higher Education Studies.