Mercy College Announces Brian Amkraut, Ph.D. as Vice President and General Manager of New Division of Workforce Credentialing and Community Impact

Mercy College announced today that Brian Amkraut, Ph.D. has accepted the Vice President and General Manager for Workforce Credentialing and Community Impact position, effective November 1.  He previously served as Executive Director of the Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program at Case Western Reserve University.

In this new role, Amkraut will oversee a new division of Workforce Credentialing and Community Impact created to meet the expanding need to effectively prepare students of all ages to fill the skills gaps in the labor markets of today and the unknown jobs of tomorrow. This division will be focused on shorter term certificates for those seeking preparation in very specific workforce needs, whether hard skills like cybersecurity, health care, software coding or soft skills like executive leadership or conflict resolution.

“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Amkraut to his new role as the Vice President and General Manager for Workforce Credentialing and Community Impact,” said Tim Hall, Mercy College President. “ Currently, in Westchester, jobs are sitting open because employees lack the skills to fill them. Mercy is prepared to fill that gap by connecting with the workforce needs of Westchester County and the tri-state area. Research over the past year has shown that a majority of workers who have been displaced by the pandemic are looking for shorter term skills preparation rather than degrees and Mercy is prepared to help them.”

Amkraut has over 20 years of experience in higher education and has focused on continuing professional studies and online learning. Prior to his role at Case Western Reserve, he served as provost and professor of Judaic Studies at Siegal College.  Amkraut also served as Director of Distance Learning and Director of Assessment of Student Learning at Siegal College. He earned his Ph.D. from New York University. Throughout his career, Amkraut has published and presented on a range of topics including continuing education, lifelong learning and the changing landscape of higher education. 

“I firmly believe that meeting the lifelong learning needs of workers throughout their careers is both the greatest challenge and the most exciting opportunity that higher education has confronted in decades. Through President Hall’s leadership, Mercy is well positioned to seize this moment and deliver a wide range of educational programs for a truly diverse body of learners, whether in person throughout the New York area, or reaching an even larger audience online," said Amkraut.  "I am thrilled to join the leadership team at Mercy, where the College’s mission to provide students the ‘opportunity to transform their lives through higher education’ will now extend to learners of all ages throughout their careers.”

To learn more about Mercy College's new division of Workforce Credentialing and Community Impact, please click here.