Lee Fox-Cardamone was elected the new president of the American Association of University Professors, Kent State Chapter yesterday.

Fox-Cardamone, associate professor of psychology at the Stark campus, defeated Frank Smith, professor of mathematics, 162 votes to 81.

“I am very excited,” Fox-Cardamone said. “I look forward to continuing to work with a wonderful group of people, in addition to drawing in new members. It’s a very exciting time.”

Fox-Cardamone is already thinking of what she would like to accomplish while president.

“We are hoping to move ahead on domestic partner benefits,” she said.

Fox-Cardamone said the race against opponent Smith was not a negative experience.

“It was better than a lot of political campaigns I’ve seen,” she said, laughing. “There was no mudslinging.”

She added that she and Smith saw eye to eye on issues.

“We both want many of the same things,” she said. “We just had a different focus.”

Fox-Cardamone will replace outgoing president Cheryl Casper, professor of economics.

“She left us in a good place with fair-share,” Fox-Cardamone said.

Fair-share requires all faculty members represented by the AAUP to pay a fee to the organization.

Casper detailed some of the responsibilities facing Fox-Cardamone as president.

“One major responsibility is to make sure negotiations go well, especially the collective bargaining agreement,” she said.

The collective bargaining agreement concerns faculty members’ salaries, benefits, and also the shared responsibilities between the AAUP and the university, Casper said.

Casper simplified the president’s powers less specifically.

“They’re pretty awesome, in a way. They run the unit,” she said.

Contact academic affairs reporter Derek Lenehan at [email protected].