26. Christine Riordan

By any objective measure, Dr. Christine Riordan’s first year and a half as president of Adelphi University in Garden City was a resounding success. After taking over the private university in July 2015, Riordan personally led an effort to identify new opportunities for the university, and that pursuit of new and exciting ideas helped foster a resurgence resulting in a 40-percent increase in its freshman population. In the fall of 2016, Adelphi consequently welcomed its largest freshman class in its long history. Additionally, the college has created new academic programs and has made diversification a priority. Under Riordan’s leadership, Adelphi University has embraced innovation with open arms. And perhaps no greater example of this is Adelphi’s acclaimed Nexis Building, a 100,000-square-foot facility housing the College of Nursing and Public Health. Riordan previously found success at the University of Kentucky, where she served as provost. During her time there, it boasted a student population of more than 30,000 and a budget of $3 billion. With Riordan at the helm, Adelphi’s future—and all of Long Island’s—grows brighter by the day.