30th Anniversary History Book

The Beacon Hall open house was followed by the news that Dr. George J. Hagerty had been chosen by the board to be the school’s third president — though three interim presidents had been appointed over the years to lead the college for shorter spans. At the time, Hagerty was the president of University Advisors International, Inc., having previously served as provost and university professor at Hellenic American University in Athens, Greece, from 2009 to 2011 and president of Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire from 1995 to 2009. The holder of master’s and doctoral degrees from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a former official in the U.S. Department of Education, Hagerty was chosen from a list of more than 100 applicants. GEORGE HAGERTY Named Beacon’s Third President

Drs. George and Oksana Hagerty at inauguration ceremony

Hagerty said he knew Beacon was the place for him after walking the campus and meeting the people, from the board and staff, to students and Leesburg residents. He called his wife Oksana, a Ph.D. educational and developmental psychologist in her own right, and told her his search for a new position had ended. “In reinforcing the attractiveness of the Beacon opportunity to her,” he said, “I expressed that, ‘it is the smallest, it is the poorest, but it has the best darn mission … and the college has a lot to teach American higher education.’ I have not changed my perspective since the day I assumed Beacon’s presidency.” Board chair Eileen Marinakis said Hagerty’s “extensive leadership experience in higher education and government, as well as his record of achievement in the field of special education and belief in Beacon’s mission

were important factors in our decision. It was, however, his creative energy, entrepreneurial acumen, academic standing and insight, as well as his repertoire of administrative and external advocacy skills that make him an ideal president for Beacon College.” Chandler called Hagerty a visionary: “He can picture things he wants done and he goes after it.” One of his first tasks, she said, was empowering the staff to handle more duties and search for new ways to reach students. Left unsaid about Hagerty was that he could empathize with Beacon’s students in a way that few administrators can. He is legally blind. One of the first questions he asks when he meets a student is “What is your workaround?” In other words, he wants to know how he/she copes with their disability.

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