13. Kirk Kordeleski

Small organizations have the ability to maintain integrity, focus and a positive corporate culture. Large organizations tend to stray from their more benevolent roots as its interests diversify and become more unwieldy. And then there is Bethpage Federal Credit Union, an organization that dispels this myth of corporate America at every turn. Kirk Kordeleski brought significant experience with him when he joined Bethpage in 1992. He ascended to his current position as CEO in 2000 and has tripled its assets since that time and increased its reputation immeasurably. We have written before that Kordeleski possesses an old-world CEO quality and it bears repeating. His style is collaborative and community-oriented in a way that honors the institution’s charter and is reminiscent of a golden era of corporate leadership. He is personally involved with myriad local organizations and is the chair of the venerable Long Island Association. With all that ails the Long Island economy, there is no shortage of ideas on how to fix them. When all is said and done, convincing the folks at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to clone Kordeleski might be a good start.