Geitner Announced as Nazareth College's 2019 Commencement Speaker
Nazareth College is honored to announce that Marisa Geitner, a ‘92, ‘95G Nazareth alumna, Nazareth board of trustee member, and the president and CEO of Heritage Christian Services, is the College’s 2019 Commencement speaker. Nazareth's undergraduate and graduate Commencement ceremony takes place on Sunday, May 12, at 9:45 a.m. at the Blue Cross Arena, 100 Exchange Blvd., Rochester, N.Y. 14614.
Since 2013, Geitner has been CEO of Heritage Christian Services, a nonprofit agency based in East Rochester, N.Y., that supports 23,000 people. A 25-year employee, the former executive vice president and chief operating officer succeeded the agency’s founder, providing an added motivation to protect a rich legacy of providing support with compassion, dignity, and respect.
Geitner has been lauded for her work at the agency. She received one of Rochester Business Journal’s Forty under 40 awards in 2007—the same year the Pieters Family Life Center, what she considers one of her most fulfilling professional accomplishments, opened in Henrietta. With consultation from Shirley Szekeres, Ph.D., former dean of Nazareth’s School of Health and Human Services, Geitner helped design and develop the state-of-the-art community wellness center that welcomes people of all abilities to its fitness room, therapy pool, and studios for art, dance, and music.
A former adjunct professor at Nazareth for 10 years, she taught the graduate seminar in developmental disabilities. Geitner talks to her new employees about the interdisciplinary experience she received at Nazareth, one that nurtured a passion for independent learning.
“My appetite for learning really skyrocketed once I really understood what I wanted to do,” said Geitner. “It’s really been a full-circle experience for me.”
In 2011, she was nominated by the Rochester Business Alliance’s Women’s Council for an Athena Award, and in 2018 she was honored as a Women of Influence recipient by the Rochester Business Journal. When off the job, she serves on the boards of several other philanthropic organizations.
The Nazareth tradition is continuing - Geitner ‘s daughter currently attends Nazareth.
For More Information
Julie Long | Chief PR Officer | 585-389-2456 or jlong2@naz.edu
Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for nearly 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.
Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.
Marisa Geitner, a ‘92, ‘95G Nazareth alumnus, Nazareth board of trustee member, and the president and CEO of Heritage Christian Services, is the College’s 2019 Commencement speaker. (photo courtesy of Heritage Christian Services)