Virginia (Ginny) Apuzzo ‘63 has dedicated her life to serving the LGBTQ+, civil rights, and AIDS communities. After witnessing the Stonewall Riots in 1969, she was motivated to act. Her career led her to hold various roles, from Assistant Commissioner for Operations at the NYC Department of Health to Executive Director at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, the Fund for Human Dignity, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Ginny served as Vice-Chair of the NYS AIDS Advisory Council, the Governor’s Liaison to the Lesbian and Gay Community, and the Deputy Executive Director at the NYS Consumer Protection Board. She later served as Commissioner of the NYS Civil Service Commission, Associate Deputy Secretary in the United States Department of Labor, Assistant to the President for Management and Administration at The White House, and a NYS Commission on Public Integrity member.
Most recently, Apuzzo founded and served as President and Board Member of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, Inc. in Kingston, NY. She has received numerous awards for her service from organizations such as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.
Ginny graduated from SUNY New Paltz in 1963 with a bachelor’s in Adolescence Education: Social Studies. She received an MS in urban education from Fordham University in 1973 and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law in 1988 from the School of Law at Queens College. While at New Paltz, she was a member of Theta Phi Gamma and was the Student Government Association Treasurer from 1962-1963.
