July 23, 2001 — Matthew C. Cordaro, a 35-year veteran of the energy industry, has extensive hands-on, management, and administrative experience in all sectors of the energy business — investor owned utilities, privately held utilities, public energy providers, and independent system operators (see below). Recently, Dr. Cordaro accepted an appointment to the Directorship of the Center for Management Analysis at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and to Chair the C.W. Post Department of Healthcare and Public Administration.

Dr. Cordaro is making the move from the corporate side of energy to the academic side with the goal of addressing and solving the many energy-related problems faced by today’s highly electrified society. "I’ve been fortunate enough to make a very good living working in the energy industry," Cordaro says. "Signing on with the University and the Center for Management Analysis is my way of giving something back to the industry that is so important to me. I hope to be able to utilize my new position to help bring about positive changes in an industry which is now under unprecedented pressure to produce and to manage costs."

California has been a model of what an energy crisis can be. Dr. Cordaro hopes to prevent a scenario like the California Energy Crisis on Long Island or elsewhere in the U.S. by focusing the operations of the Center for Management Analysis on the study of energy and energy-related issues. The Center, located at the College of Management and School of Public Service at the C.W. Post Campus, will conduct symposiums and conferences for members of the energy industry, academics, government officials and other parties interested in the responsible management of record-high demands for a resource of limited availability. Discussions will focus on options for meeting energy demands, approaches to energy conservation, cost of energy to the consumer and more. The center will provide an objective, non-partisan academic setting for these discussions and will strive to build consensus followed by advocacy for approved approaches to solving energy problems. In the absence of a consensus, the Center will summarize and report on the essence of arguments on both (or all) sides and will recommend potential paths to compromise.

Matthew C. Cordaro began his career at Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) in 1966 after graduating from New York University with a master’s degree in nuclear engineering. He earned a Ph.D. in Engineering and Physics from Cooper Union in 1970, and remained with LILCO in various capacities through 1988 when he resigned as Senior Vice President of Electric and Gas Operations, Engineering and Construction. At that time, he accepted a position as President of Long Lake Cogeneration and Senior Vice President of Long Lake Energy Corporation in New York City, where he was responsible for a $1 billion program of energy-provider development ranging from planning and construction to operation of several sites. In 1992, Dr. Cordaro moved on to act as full-time consultant and project advisor to the Consortium to Convert Shoreham Power Plant (consisting of representatives from General Electric Co., CMS Energy Corp., Bechtel Group, Inc. and Panhandle Eastern Corp.). In 1993, Cordaro became president and chief executive officer of Nashville Electric Service — one of the ten largest public utilities in the United States with $700 million in revenue and among the lowest rates in the country. While at the helm of this major energy provider, Cordaro took a leading role in representing public power before industry and government organizations and gave testimony before the U.S. Congress and other federal agencies on numerous occasions.

In 1999, the time came for Dr. Cordaro to test the waters of the independent system operator sector. At that time he took on the development of Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana. There he assembled a highly qualified team and created a permanent headquarters and control center to operate the assets of 17 transmission-owning members who now collectively control 78,000 MW (megawatts) of generation; 52,000 miles of transmission lines; and over $8 billion in assets.

Long Island University and the Center for Management Analysis are pleased to have C.W. Post alumnus Dr. Cordaro on board (B.S. in Engineering Science in 1965). For additional information please call Wendy G. Helfman at the C.W. Post Public Relations Office at (516) 299-2332 or email wendy.helfman@liu.edu.