Permanent record

Russell Sage building renamed to honor retiring president Scrimshaw

The Sage Colleges honored its retiring president, Susan Scrimshaw, on Saturday during the school’s annual reunion weekend by naming a building on its Russell Sage College campus in her honor.

After more than $100,000 in improvements paid for largely from contributions made by alumni and other community members to honor Scrimshaw’s nine years at the helm of The Sage Colleges, the home of Russell Sage’s occupational and physical therapy programs was re-christened as the Scrimshaw Health Sciences Hall.

The building improvements, which began last year, included updates to the second floor and interior facilities systems. More recently, the project focused on first-floor interior updates and windows, as well as façade and landscaping renovations extending to neighboring Manning Hall.

Scrimshaw has been credited with leading the colleges to significant achievements since taking over as president in 2008. Where the colleges had a budget deficit when Scrimshaw took over, they now operate with a balanced budget, while Moody’s has upgraded its bond rating to “stable” and the colleges’ endowment is up by almost 50 percent. Meanwhile, Sage has held the line on tuition costs for six straight years.

At the same time, undergraduate applications have increased by more than 150 percent since 2008, undergraduate enrollment has increased by more than 4 percent and new graduate student credit hours have increased by more than 50 percent. Diversity on its campuses has also increased by 12 percent, with Sage hosting students from Afghanistan, China, Dubai, Greece, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Thailand.

Under Scrimshaw’s leadership, Sage has seen the addition of an online division, Russell Sage Online, and Sage has expanded its MBA program into Saratoga County and its Educational Leadership program into New York City.

Scrimshaw will be succeeded by Christopher Ames, who since 2013 had directed academic affairs at Shepherd University, a public liberal arts university in West Virginia, where he also oversaw its NCAA Division II athletic program.

PHOTOS BY SEAN RUSSELL — THE SAGE COLLEGES Susan Scrimshaw, foreground, retiring president of The Sage Colleges, stands among Russell Sage College alumni Saturday morning during a ceremony to re-christen the Scrimshaw Health Sciences Hall on the downtown Troy campus.

Susan Scrimshaw, retiring president of The Sage Colleges, stands Saturday morning in front of the newly re-christened Scrimshaw Health Sciences Hall on the Russell Sage College campus in downtown Troy.