Dr. Griffin today!
After over 30 years as an educator, mentor, leader, colleague, and friend, Dr. Clyde Griffin announced his retirement on July 10, 2018. Please join us in saying it has been an honor and we wish him the best!
A get-together was held on August 8th, 2018 at the Manhattan Campus. The campus was filled with staff, students, alumni and friends to celebrate the impact Dr. Griffin has had on the MCNY Community.
About Dr. Clyde Griffin
Dr. Clyde Griffin, Jr. was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University where he majored as an undergraduate in Romance Languages and Literature (French, Spanish, and Italian). On graduation, he spent a year at the Creative Writing Program in Iowa City, Iowa. The following year, he enrolled in the Peace Corps where he spent 2½ years in Nigeria. In that role, he taught French, organized a library, a drop-in medical center for his students and introduced them to American basketball.
2010 – One of Dr. Griffin’s favorite pictures taken by a student at the old MCNY Manhattan Canal Street Campus.
On leaving the Peace Corps, he spent 2½ years in Europe, living in Paris, France and Florence, Italy. His first full-time teaching position in the U.S. was at the Hillsdale School (now Seven Hills School), a private school for girls, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. At Hillsdale, he taught French, Spanish, and Italian. He later joined the faculty of Cincinnati Country Day School, a private school for boys, where he served for 10 years as the chair of the foreign language department. On leaving Country Day, he attended Teachers College, Columbia University, where he received a doctorate in Applied Linguistics and Literature (Dissertation Topic: Discourse in Othello: A Study of the Plural Speaker).
In 1983, Dr. Griffin joined the staff of the College for Human Services as full-time faculty. He later served as an Associate Dean, working closely with Audrey Cohen, our founder, on implementing the Schools Project. This was a project committed to innovating American public education (K through 12) through Purpose-Centered teaching and learning.
2014 – Dr. Clyde Griffin with his wife, Dr. Claudine L. Boros (also a professor at MCNY) at the MCNY 50th Anniversary Gala.
Dr. Griffin left MCNY briefly (5 years) to work with abused and neglected adolescents at the Edwin Gould Academy, in Spring Valley, NY. On his return to MCNY, he served as the chair of the Human Services Program for another 10 years. In 2010, he returned to the MCNY faculty as a full-time instructor. Dr. Griffin currently holds the title of Associate Professor in the Audrey Cohen School for Human Services and Education.
2001 – The Three Docs! Steven Cresap, Ruth Lugo and Clyde Griffin take in the sights of Southern California during a career development conference.
Dr. Griffin is also a recipient of the Joseph Klingenstein Award for Teaching Excellence in Independent Schools.
