Jerry DeFrancisco ’68 returned to his alma mater, Siena College, in 2014, as Distinguished Civic Leader in Residence within Siena’s Center for Academic Community Engagement.  He has served as Distinguished Executive in Residence for the Franciscan Mission Office since 2019, assisting the VP for Mission with strategic planning, and as a consultant, mentor and resource to students and staff. As part of Siena’s 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, Jerry has been tasked with designing and implementing a Center for Franciscan Leadership at Siena. He is a professional consultant, whose career spans over 40 years in for-profit business, nonprofits, consulting, and academia, serving in senior leadership positions in a wide variety of assignments.

Before returning to Siena in 2014, he served as President, Humanitarian Services for the American Red Cross, leading operations for over 1500 Red Cross locations across the country and around the world delivering the organization’s humanitarian mission. In this capacity, he led a transformation in the governance, organization structure and service delivery processes for Red Cross Humanitarian Services, and worked with numerous community nonprofits in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

Before joining the Red Cross, he was President of two global consulting firms, specializing in strategy, operations sustainability, and performance improvement. Prior to this he enjoyed a 30-year career at AT&T, where he served as Executive Vice President Broadband and Internet Services, Vice President Business Innovation, and President and CEO of AT&T Alascom, a major AT&T acquisition.

Jerry holds a BA from Siena College, and an Executive MBA in Business Policy and Marketing, and a Doctorate in Management from Pace University in New York. He has completed Senior Executive Programs at Harvard and Duke Universities, and the Aspen Institute, and has been an Adjunct Professor at The University of Alaska, Fairleigh Dickenson University, Seton Hall University and currently at Siena. A US Army veteran, Jerry served on the advisory board of the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, the Board of Research Strategies Network, and as a Senior Fellow with the West Point McDonald Cadet Leadership Program. He has also served on many non-profit boards, such as United Way, March of Dimes, the Alaska Native Heritage Center and Special Olympics, and has been a speaker and panelist at numerous business, educational and government conferences.

In 2018, Jerry was honored with the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters from Siena, and served as commencement speaker.