Simone, Albert J.

Albert Joseph Simone (1935- ) was born on December 16, 1935 in Boston, MA to Edward and Mary (née DiGiovanni) Simone. After graduating from Tufts University in 1957 with his B.A. in economics, Simone earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1962. He taught at several Boston area colleges including Tufts University, Boston College, and Northeastern University. From 1968-1972 Simone served as the head of the Department of Quantitative Analysis in the College of Business Administration at the University of Cincinnati and we promoted to Dean in 1972. He continued to work in this position until he was named the Vice President of Academic Affairs position at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. Then, in 1985 he was chosen to serve as president of the University of Hawaii system. Simone became the eighth president of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1992. During his time at RIT, Simone not only served the university community, but was involved the Rochester area as well. For instance, he served as chair of the Greater Rochester Metro Chamber of Commerce. To show his dedicated to the university, Simone learned how to sign his inaugural address using American Sign Language through private tutoring. The National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the country's largest technical college for the deaf and hard of hearing, is part of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Simone was also the first American university president to officially visit North Korea and Vietnam during his tenure. He retired from RIT in 2007 and was succeeded by William W. Destler.