EFSC Honors Retiring Vice President, Welcomes Successor

Eastern Florida State College honored a retiring Vice President on Monday for 25 years of exceptional service and welcomed his successor whose career includes a long tenure at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The recognitions were made before the college’s Board of Trustees by EFSC President Dr. Jim Richey, who praised the two senior executives:

Mark Cherry, who is retiring as Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Offer, and Laura Maxwell, who will replace him in the position.

Cherry came to the college in 1998 and played an important role in moving EFSC forward to its place of educational prominence in Florida today.

His achievements include:

Crafting fiscal year budgets with results that include no tuition increase for 12 straight years for students.

Overseeing more than 100 state and financial federal audits with all of them completed successfully with a near spotless record.

Managing the disbursement of more than $61 million in emergency COVID pandemic grants from the federal government, with much of it going to students to help them cover everything from tuition to food.

Steering all of EFSC’s major building projects the past decade, including the Public Safety Institute, Health Sciences Institute, Student Union and Student Housing on the Melbourne Campus.

He also directed countless other building renovations and projects collegewide, such as the EFSC Aviation Center at Melbourne-Orlando International Airport.

“Mark embodies the sterling qualities of a higher education professional. Operating behind the scenes, he has touched the life of every student who has passed through our college in the last quarter century, “ said Richey.

“I can’t thank him enough for his wise counsel during the many, many meetings we’ve had. It has been invaluable to me.”

Succeeding Cherry is Laura Maxwell, a graduate of the State University of New York Empire State College where she earned Bachelor and Master’s degrees in business administration.

Maxwell started her academic career at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point where she served as Assistant Dean for Resources and Senior Associate Athletic Director and Chief Financial Officer for Army Athletics from 1987 to 2007.

Upon leaving West Point, she went to the newly formed Georgia Gwinnett College as Vice President for Business and Finance.

During her 12-year stay, she helped lead the new public college to full growth, overseeing $250 million in new construction, modernizing all classrooms with the latest technology and achieving a host of other initiatives for the 13,000 student institution.

She joined Riverside Military Academy in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer where she helped foster the school’s excellent reputation.

“Laura’s impressive breath of experience in finance, facilities, information technology, human resources, security and athletics make her uniquely qualified for her new role at EFSC,” said Richey.

“I have no doubt her ideas, skills and steady hand will play an important role as we continue growing and improving EFSC in the years ahead.”

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