(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - United University Professions (UUP) President Frederick E. Kowal has been re-elected by a unanimous vote of Delegates April 25 at UUP’s 2026 Spring Delegate Assembly in Albany.

Delegates of UUP, America’s largest Higher Education Union, elected Kowal by acclamation, with UUP Statewide Secretary-Treasurer Jeri O’Bryan-Losee casting one symbolic vote for the body.

Kowal, who ran unopposed, was elected to his fourth three-year term as UUP president.

Kowal was first elected in 2013.

Said Kowal: “I am grateful for the support and the trust that our Delegates have placed in me by re-electing me as UUP’s President. I look forward to continuing the vitally important work of this Union for our Members, our students, our patients and our communities. We will continue to fight for necessary funding for our cash-strapped campuses and for a strong, multi-year contract that provides job security and protections, superior affordable health care and well-deserved salary increases for our Members. Now, let’s get to work.”

O’Bryan-Losee and another Statewide Officer, Membership Development Officer Patrick Romain, were also elected by unanimous votes.

Both candidates ran unopposed and were elected to three-year terms by acclamation.

UUP Delegates also elected two new Members to the Union’s Statewide Executive Board, for three-year terms that start June 1st. They are: Brendan McGovern of Binghamton University, the President of UUP’s Binghamton Chapter; Matthew Smith of the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Smith serves as President of UUP’s ESF Chapter.

Six other Executive Board Members were re-elected to three-year terms. They are: Redetha Abrahams-Nichols, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. She is President of UUP’s Downstate Chapter; Bret Benjamin, University at Albany. He is UUP’s Chief Negotiator for a new contract with the state; Rebecca Bryan, SUNY Cortland; Mindy Heath, Upstate Medical University. She is President of UUP’s Upstate Chapter; Pamela Malone, SUNY Empire State University; and Samuel Marquez, SUNY Downstate

UUP represents more than 42,000 Academic and Professional Faculty and Retirees who work at 29 New York State-operated Campuses, including SUNY’s Public Teaching Hospitals and Health Science Centers in Brooklyn, Long Island and Syracuse.

UUP is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA) and the AFL-CIO.

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UUP File Photo.