05/22/2026
SUNY Cortland presented its 40th College-Community Appreciation Award to Marie Lord Walsh ’74 on May 22 during a ceremony in the Corey Union Function Room.
Awarded by the university’s College Council, the honor recognizes local citizens whose efforts have directly benefitted SUNY Cortland.
Carol Clarke, past president of the board of directors at Catholic Charities of Cortland County, offered remarks with SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum during the evening’s celebration. Thomas Gallagher, chair of SUNY Cortland’s College Council, gave a welcome and co-presented the award with Bitterbaum.
Walsh, of Cortland, was recognized for building strong connections with SUNY Cortland faculty, staff and students throughout her roughly three decades of service to Catholic Charities of Cortland County (CCOCC).
The non-profit organization serves a crucial role in improving the lives of Cortland County residents, supplying vital resources for youth and adults living with their private struggles of poverty, mental illness and addiction.
“Marie Walsh stands out as an extraordinary advocate for people in need,” Bitterbaum said. “She dedicated her career to improving the lives of others, especially the most vulnerable, and our community is a better place because of her work.
“We are fortunate that Marie made her home in Cortland following her graduation, and the university is proud to count her among its own.”
Walsh’s partnership with her alma mater provided countless learning opportunities for SUNY Cortland students.
Walsh joined CCOCC’s staff in 1985 to coordinate its Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Services (APPS) Project, eventually rising to be the agency’s executive director in 2006 until her retirement in 2021. During her career, Walsh helped lead growth from just a food pantry and a teen pregnancy program with a half dozen staff members to a sizeable agency with more than 50 employees.
She gave many SUNY Cortland students volunteer opportunities that helped prepare them for professional life while engaging them with the local community. Students worked with CCOCC on a regular basis, leading community service efforts such as food, school supply and clothing drives.
Students also helped the APPS Project provide case management support to pregnant and parenting teens through their participation in community engagement projects in local schools and agencies. Relatively early in Walsh’s career, the university’s Sociology Department collaborated with the APPS expansion created by new support from New York state that enabled the college students to work with at-risk youth cases and collect valuable data that drove service development.
“This laid the groundwork for the various community collaborations that followed in my career at CCOCC,” Walsh said recently.
Walsh’s role evolved significantly over time. Her position as director of case management and administrative services focused on key areas such as policy and grant writing, staff development and compliance. Just before she was named executive director, the Cortland Area Communities that Care Coalition (CACTC) was formed with grant funding through Catholic Charities to support the Drug Free Communities and STOP projects focused on teen substance abuse. The coalition, which recently became the Rural Health Institute of New York, had a far-reaching community impact.
SUNY Cortland officials maintained representation on CACTC for several years, joining expanded peer support services that involved hiring individuals with lived experience with mental health issues, addiction and other disorders. The coalition also offered clients a physical location called the Peer Support Center, with its peer support specialists becoming the first to be certified in Cortland County.
Early successes inspired greater ambition in Walsh, who added Community Reentry Services, a project that supported people as they were returning to the community from incarceration. She was inspired by a community forum at SUNY Cortland, which motivated her to apply for funding to start a successful local support program. Along with other community partners, Walsh supported the development of Crisis Intervention Training for local police officers, advancing their skills dealing with mentally ill and other challenged people in the community.
During her tenure, Walsh also focused on the lack of affordable housing locally, particularly for special populations. Catholic Charities worked to expand housing capacity and support services. She said her most significant project as executive director led to the construction of Riverview Apartments, which included 40 units of mixed-use housing.
Walsh pushed back her retirement by several years after the COVID-19 pandemic and instead helped her agency navigate new requirements and changes.
She also engaged in many other community affiliations during her career, including the Cortland County Adolescent Pregnancy Consortium, the Cortland County Youth Board, the Cortland County Board of Health, the Cortland County Community Services Board, the Community Reentry Task Force, the Seven Valleys Health Coalition and the Family Health Network.
Walsh is married to former Cortland mayor Ronald Walsh, owner of the Walsh Law Firm. The couple has a daughter, Emily and a son, Colin.
“I enjoyed helping people feel better or helping them find their way,” Walsh said. “It’s been an honor and pleasure to work with them all these years.”