Hostos Community College President Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis has been named to City & State New York’s 2026 Trailblazers in Higher Education list for helping to shape the future of higher education in the state.
The list recognizes visionary leaders, innovators, policymakers and advocates who are responding to the evolving challenges and opportunities faced by colleges and universities in New York today.
“At Hostos Community College, Daisy Cocco De Filippis is blazing a trail for higher education in the Bronx and beyond,” City & State wrote.
Dr. Cocco De Filippis had previously served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Hostos Community College from 2002 to 2008, before spending the next 12 years as the President of Naugatuck Valley Community College. She returned to Hostos in August 2020, taking over as President.
Under the leadership of Dr. Cocco De Filippis, Hostos has experienced a remarkable period of growth and achievement. She has guided the college through a successful Middle States accreditation review, developed the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan for Hostos, secured a historic $15 million gift from MacKenzie Scott, which led to the establishment of the Hostos Community College Research Center, helped the school earn recognition as a top ten finalist for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and advocated for millions of dollars in federal funding for student success initiatives, academic partnerships, mentorship opportunities and campus employment programs.
“I am deeply honored to be included among this year’s Trailblazers in Higher Education,” Dr. Cocco De Filippis said. “This recognition belongs to the entire Hostos community, our students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, whose dedication and resilience inspire our work every day.
Together, we remain committed to expanding opportunity, advancing equity and transforming lives through the power of education.”
In addition to securing the $15 million donation, which represented the largest philanthropic gift for the college, to help create the Hostos Community College Research Center, Dr. Cocco De Filippis also launched the $1 million Aspira-Wright Endowed STEM Scholarship. Under her leadership, Hostos earned national recognition as one of six institutions selected by the U.S. Department of Education for its inaugural Postsecondary Success Recognition Program Award.
Dr. Cocco De Filippis is also a nationally recognized scholar, author and literary critic. She earned a Ph.D in Latin American Literature from The Graduate Center, CUNY, and has been a pioneering voice in the study of Dominican women writers and Dominican authors in the United States.
Her contributions to Dominican, Caribbean and Dominican diaspora literature led to her being given an Honorary Doctorate in the Humanities in 2016 by the University of Santo Domingo, the oldest university in the Americas.
