Wendy Ravitz currently serves as Chief Campus Counsel for the SUNY College of Optometry. In this role, Wendy serves as the primary legal advisor to the college president and the president's council. She provides legal counsel on personnel issues; reviews and negotiates campus contracts; and provides advice on FOIL, FERPA, ADA, and student affairs issues. She also is responsible for policy review and development, and for responding to any complaints or inquiries from outside agencies.
Prior coming into her current role, Wendy served in various positions within the State University of New York Office of General Counsel for more than 20 years, and for a year as Interim Secretary of the State University of New York. She joined SUNY's Office of General Counsel in 1998. Over the years, she has served as counsel to SUNY Cobleskill, Empire State College, Purchase College and the College of Optometry. She also has provided representation to SUNY System Administration on a wide variety of legal issues. In January 2015, Ravitz added Legal Liaison to the Board of Trustees to her counsel position. In that role, she continued her representation of campuses and System Administration, and provided advice to the Board of Trustees, General Counsel and Secretary of the University on matters pertaining to University governance and compliance with the N.Y. Open Meetings Law. In early 2018, Wendy was appointed Interim Secretary of the University, taking her work with the Board and on governance issues to the next level.
Prior to joining SUNY, Wendy spent ten years as a litigator in private practice with firms in New York City and Albany. She received her law degree from the Boston University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.