NYC Correction Commissioners:
Since 1896

MAYOR BLOOMBERG APPOINTS DR. DORA B. SCHRIRO AS CORRECTION COMMISSIONER

Dr. Dora B. Schriro responds to a reporter's question in the Blue Room at City Hall Sept. 9, 2009 after
the announcement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointing her as NYC Correction Commissioner,
effective Sept. 21. Also looking on are Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda I.Gibbs
and Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt.

SEPT. 9, 2009 -- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today appointed Dr. Dora B. Schriro as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction. Dr. Schriro served as Director of the Office of Detention Policy and Planning for the Department of Homeland Security, where she led an overhaul of the nation’s immigration detention system.

Previously, she served six years as Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections; led the Missouri Department of Corrections as Director from 1993 to 2001, and served as the City of St. Louis Warden and then Commissioner of Corrections from 2001 to 2003.

Robert J. Wright 1/l/1896 -- 12/31/1897

Francis J. Lantry 1/l/1898 -- 12/31/1901 1/l/1904 -- 10/10/06

Thomas W. Hynes 1/l/02 -- 12/31/03

In both states, she was the first woman to lead the departments and is the only female in the country to head two State correctional systems.

Dr. Schriro, who was born on Staten Island, served in the Koch Administration from 1984 to 1989, first as Assistant to the Deputy Director in the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and then as Assistant Commissioner at the City Department of Correction. Dr. Schriro succeeds Martin F. Horn, who resigned the post in July. The Mayor announced the appointment in the Blue Room of City Hall.

“Dr. Schriro brings a distinctive, dynamic style and innovative thinking back home to New York City,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Dr. Schriro’s executive experience in overseeing detention systems in the states of Missouri and Arizona make her uniquely qualified to carry on the important work here in New York City, with a clear focus on reducing violence, ensuring inmate and staff safety, while also preparing inmates to transition back into their communities and lives after release.”

“It is an honor to join this Administration in their continuing pursuit of excellence and accountability,” said Commissioner Schriro. “I am grateful to Mayor Bloomberg for this opportunity, and I look forward to the work ahead at the New York City Department of Correction. I expect it will be challenging, important and rewarding work, and am confident we will continue to contribute in new and meaningful ways to the City’s safety and well being.”

John V. Coggey 10/11/06 -- 12/31/08

John J. Barry 1/1/09 -- 1/18/10

Patrick A. Whitney 1/19/10 -- 12/31/13

Katharine Bement Davis 1/1/14 -- 12/27/15

Burdette G. Lewis 12/27/15 -- 12/31/17

As Special Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Detention and Removal, Dr. Schriro focused on how to manage and reduce the significant growth in immigration detention over the last five years. Throughout her 30-year career, she has been involved in sentencing reform, supporting victims and innovative re-entry efforts.

She served for six years as Vice Chair of Missouri’s Sentencing Commission and was a founding member of the Vera Institute of Justice’s State and Local Sentencing Program. Dr. Schriro has co-led sentencing seminars at St. Louis University and Arizona State University Schools of Law, spearheaded passage of the country’s first restorative justice legislation and also has established offices of crime victims’ services in the State correctional systems in Missouri and Arizona.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Dora Schriro to lead the Department of Correction and build upon the progress we've made,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda I. Gibbs. “Dr. Schriro’s proven record in corrections management and her own goals of keeping New York City’s jails as safe as possible, as well as helping those exiting jail make critical transitions back to their communities make her ideal for this challenge.”

Dr. Schriro served for nine months in 1984 as Assistant to the Deputy Director in the Office of the Criminal Justice where she supervised the Program Monitoring and Evaluation Unit for state and federally-funded projects, and administered grants associated with these programs.

James A. Hamilton 1/l/18 -- 12/31/22

Frederick A. Wallis 1/l/23 -- 8/14/27

Richard C. Patterson 8/15/27 -- 9/30/32

In 1985, she was appointed by Mayor Koch to the New York City Department of Correction as Assistant Commissioner where, through 1989, she was responsible for delivery of inmate educational programs, the Grants Office, Ministerial and Volunteer Services, Law Libraries, Recreation and Work Release, and Special Events.

Dr. Schriro, who will begin work on September 21, earned a law degree from St. Louis University, a doctorate from Columbia University, a Master of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Northeastern University. She has taught law, criminal justice, psychology and education courses at the graduate level throughout her career.

Published in the area of re-entry, detention, and supervision, Dr. Schriro has also received accolades for her work over the years. In 1999, as Director of the Missouri Department of Corrections, she received the Michael Francke Award, recognizing her as the top correctional administrator in the United States; the National Governors Association Distinguished Service to State Government Award in 2006; and in 2008, her work in Arizona resulted in the Innovations in American Government Award for the comprehensive pre-release strategy, Getting Ready.

The replacement search was led by Nathan Leventhal, Chairman of the Mayor’s Committee on Appointments, and Andrea Shapiro Davis, Special Advisor to the Mayor, who worked closely with both Deputy Mayor Gibbs and Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt.

[Above was the text of Mayor Bloomberg's announcement of Dr. Schriro's appointment.]

Robert L. Tudor 10/l/32 -- 5/25/33

William J. Cahill 5/26/33 -- 10/6/33

Wilbur T. Wright 11/28/33 -- 12/31/33

Austin H. MacCormick 1/l/34 -- 1/15/40

Col.David "Mickey" Marcus 1/16/40 -- 10/15/40

On effective date of her appointment, Sept. 21, 2009, the new Correction Commissioner becomes the 40th person to hold that post and title since the NYC Department of Correction began operating as a separate agency Jan. 1, 1896.

Prior to that date, it had been part of a dual agency, the Department of Public Charities and Correction. The more than three dozen other men and women whose names appear on this page, their having served as NYC Correction Commissioners, reflect the diverse and rich history of the City and this Department. They include:

• a businessman (Robert J. Wright),
• a union head (Francis J. Lantry),
• a suffragist leader (Katharine Bement Davis),
• a medical doctor (Peter F. Amoroso),
• a leader in charitable services (Thomas W. Hynes)
• a U.S. and Israeli military hero (Col. David "Mickey" Marcus),
• a former judge (Anna M. Kross), and
• a number who rose through the ranks to the top spot (William J. Fraser, Jacqueline McMickens, Gerald Mitchell, James Hunter, George R. Vierno).

Robert J. Wright was the first to head the agency when it emerged after the dual Dept. of Public Charity and Correction was split (1895/6). He was a member of fusion reform Mayor Walter Strong's cabinet that also included Teddy Roosevelt as Police Commissioner.

Lantry was the first to served as DOC Commissioner when New York became a five-borough City (1898). Lantry also has the distinction of being the only Commissioner to serve twice as head of DOC. He even served once as Fire Commissioner.

Others who saw service directing other NYC agencies include Benjamin Ward and Bernard B. Kerik, each of whom later also served as NYPD head; Katharine Bement Davis, who afterward led the City Parole Commission, and Catherine Abate, Michael P. Jacobson and Martin F. Horn, each of whom had headed Probation before coming to Correction.

Doctor Peter F. Amoroso 10/16/40 -- 12/27/46

Albert Williams 12/27/46 -- 12/31/53

Anna M. Kross 1/l/54 -- 3/30/66

George F. McGrath 3/31/66 -- 1/23/72

Benjamin Malcolm 1/24/72 -- 11/77

Both Commissioners Frederick A. Wallis and Albert Williams served as NYPD Deputy Commissioners before heading DOC.

Some listed here served as Commissioners --

• Joseph D'Elia,
• Peter Seitchik,
• James Hunter,
• George R. Vierno,
• Gerald Mitchell, and
• Gary M. Lanigan
• John J. Antonelli

-- for interim periods.

Among the seven Interim Commissioners, Seitchik served about two and a half weeks, Vierno and Hunter each served a little more than a month, Antonelli and D'Elia about two months plus, Mitchell about two and a half months, and Lanigan about three months total.

The most commissioners to serve in any one year has been three.

In 1933, Robert L. Tudor, William J. Cahill and Wilbur T. Wright headed DOC.

In 1990, James Hunter, George R. Vierno and Allyn Seilaff served.

Joseph D'Elia (Interim) 11/77 -- 1/8/78

William Ciuros 1/9/78 -- 8/12/79

Benjamin Ward 8/13/79 -- 12/31/83

Peter Seitchik (Interim) 1/1/84 -- 1/18/84

Jacqueline McMickens 1/18/84 -- 9/22/86

Richard Koehler 9/23/86 -- 12-23-89

James Hunter (Interim) 12/24/89 -- 2/2/90

By contrast, the commissioner serving the most years was Anna M. Kross.

She headed the agency about a dozen years -- from the start of 1954 through early 1966.

Because Mrs. Kross served so many years, at such a pivotal juncture in the Department's development, and because she left such an enduring legacy at a time when few woman exercised such lasting influence in the public arena, many assume AMK was the Department's first woman Commissioner.

Mrs. Kross wasn't; she was the second. The first was Katharine Bement Davis, Bedford Hills Reformatory superintendent appointed NYC DOC Commissioner in 1914 before women had the right to vote.

George R. Vierno (Interim) 2/3/90 -- 3/11/90

Allyn Seilaff 3/12/90 -- 12-24-91

Gerald Mitchell (Interim) 12/23/91 -- 3/18/92

Catherine Abate 4/27/92 -- 3/26/94

Anthony Schembri 3/28/94 -- 1/24/95

The DOC appointment of Dr. Davis -- she had a Ph. D in political economy from the University of Chicago, a first -- also made her the first woman to run any major agency of municipal government in NYC history and any city uniformed force in the country.

The third was Jacqueline McMickens, who rose through the ranks to Commissionership in 1984.

The fourth was Catherine M. Abate named to the DOC post in 1992. She had been Probation Commissioner.

More details about each -- Commissioners Davis, Kross, McMickens, and Abate -- can be accessed by clicking the caption under their respective thumbnail photos above.

Similarly, clicking underlined captions under many of the other Commissioners' thumbnail photos on the page accesses additional information.

Use your browser's "back" button to return to this list page.

Michael P. Jacobson 1/24/95 -- 12/31/97

Bernard B. Kerik 1/1/98 -- 8/21/00

Gary M. Lanigan (Interim) 8/22/00- 11/8/00 & 12/15-31/02

William J. Fraser 11/9/00 to 12/31/02

Martin F. Horn 1/1/03 to 7/31/09

John J. Antonelli (Interim) 8/1/09 to 9/21/09

More portraits and biographical material links will be added as research continues.

All points bulletin: Be on the lookout for individual head-and-shoulders photos of five Commissioners:

• William J. Cahill and Wilbur T. Wright, both from 1933, and
• John V. Coggey, John J. Barry and Patrick A. Whitney from the 1908-13 era.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: We gratefully acknowledge NYC DOC's permission to post here material used in creating the original version of the NYC DOC Commissioners list posted on NYC LINK.-- Thomas McCarthy, NYCHS webmaster