George Latimer was sworn in as Westchester’s ninth County Executive this month- and became the fifth straight Fordham alum to hold the seat.
Latimer, a Mount Vernon native, has never lost a race since first running for Rye City Council in 1987. He was elected to the Westchester County Board of Legislators in 1991, and the State Assembly in 2004. He won a bitter state senate campaign in 2012, despite being outspent by more than a 4-to-1 margin.
Every Westchester County Executive since 1974 has been a Fordham University alum, starting with Alfred Del Bello, followed by Andrew P. O’Rourke in 1983, Andrew J. Spano in 1998 and most recently Robert Astorino in 2010.
Fordham itself began in Westchester, when Archbishop John Hughes purchased 106 acres of land to build a seminary and college. The area later became part of Bronx County, but Fordham has continued to offer classes in Westchester since 1976. The Fordham West Harrison campus hosts adult undergraduate and graduate degree programs, as well as classes for personal enrichment in the Graduate Schools of Education and Social Service, Gabelli Graduate School of Business and Fordham School of Professional and Continuing Studies. Fordham’s Armonk campus is home to The Louis Calder Center, a Biological Field Station which examines the connections between biodiversity, ecosystem function, and human health.
Of course, Westchester isn’t the only place Fordham alums have had political success. Other notable alums include New York State governor Andrew Cuomo, US Congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Dan Donovan, as well as New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina.