Matthew Cordaro

Dr. Matthew C. Cordaro, whose career spans many years as a senior executive in the utility industry, an educator, scientist and researcher in the fields of business, energy and environment, most recently was the Dean of the Townsend School of Business at Dowling College. Before moving over to Dowling, he was at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in the College of Management where, over his tenure, he served in a number of high-level administrative, academic and research positions. Cordaro has served as the chairman of the Suffolk County Legislature’s Utility Oversight Committee and recently was appointed by the New York State Assembly Leader to the Long Island Power Authority’s board of trustees.  

Just prior to joining Long Island University, Cordaro served as the first president and CEO of the Midwest Independent System Operator (Midwest ISO) based in Indianapolis, Indiana, the largest independent transmission system operator in the nation. Today, the Midwest ISO is responsible for electric reliability and markets covering 57,000 miles of transmission lines and 150,000 MW of electric generation and clears over $23 billion in energy transactions, over an area exceeding 200,000 sq miles, and extending into 13 states and one province of Canada.

Previously, Cordaro was employed as president and CEO of Nashville Electric Service, one of the ten largest public electric utilities in the nation.  He also previously served as president of Long Lake Cogeneration Corp. and as senior vice president of Long Lake Energy Corp., a major alternative energy  producer. For 22 years, he was with Long Island Lighting Co., a major investor-owned utility, finally holding the position of senior vice president of operations, engineering and construction.

Cordaro is currently a member of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance’s advisory board. He is a past member of the board of directors of the Electric Power Research Institute, the American Public Power Association, and the Nature Conservancy of Tennessee, and has served on the editorial advisory boards of Transmission & Distribution World magazine and the Long Island Business News. Cordaro has also testified many times before congressional and state legislative committees, and is frequently sought by the media for expert commentary.

Cordaro holds a Ph.D. in physics and engineering from Cooper Union, a ME degree in nuclear engineering from New York University, a BS in engineering science from C. W. Post College and completed the Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan.  He has also been an Atomic Energy Commission Fellow, a Guest Research Associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and has served as an adjunct faculty member at Polytechnic Institute of New York and C. W. Post College. Cordaro has also authored many publications on education, business, energy, environment and utility issues.