Presenter Bio - Joseph Hernon

Joseph Hernon currently serves as the Associate Vice President for Campus Safety, Emergency Management, and Environmental Health and Safety at Colgate University. In this role, Mr. Hernon provides strategic oversight for a comprehensive safety portfolio, including public safety operations, regulatory compliance, crisis response, and environmental health initiatives. He is the university’s principal advisor on safety-related matters and leads efforts to proactively manage risk, coordinate incident response, and foster community resilience.

A central component of Mr. Hernon’s work includes overseeing compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). Under his leadership, Colgate has strengthened its Clery Annual Security Report (ASR) process, established internal audit protocols for data accuracy and documentation, and improved interdepartmental collaboration to ensure adherence to federal reporting requirements. His efforts have helped build a more transparent, accountable, and responsive safety compliance culture across the institution.

Before joining Colgate, Mr. Hernon served as Director of Emergency Management at Syracuse University, where he led campus-wide emergency preparedness efforts and supervised a 24/365 emergency communications center. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Director of Emergency Services for Oneida County, NY, managing the Emergency Communications Center, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Office of the Fire Coordinator. In each role, he has consistently led multidisciplinary teams, navigated complex incidents, and delivered measurable improvements in operational readiness and compliance.

Mr. Hernon is also a Department of Defense-certified hazardous materials technician and a veteran of multiple overseas deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Djibouti. He currently serves in the 174th Attack Wing of the New York Air National Guard in Emergency Management.

He holds an A.A.S. in Emergency Management from the Community College of the Air Force, a B.S. in Criminal Justice Studies from Cazenovia College, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Security Studies from the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, and an M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.