WALTER EDDIE '82

Executive Director & CEO

Walt Frazier Foundation 

Walter Eddie, born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Yonkers, in part credits Mercy College with helping him break the mental barriers that bind many people from low-income neighborhoods. He says his college experience helped him to develop greater confidence and self-esteem and reinforced the importance of thinking "outside of the box." This prompted him to set his sights on higher more challenging goals, and is one of the reasons he was able to accomplish what he has.

In his work as executive director of the Walt Frazier Foundation, he tries to do the same for a new crop of young people growing up in the inner cities. The foundation reaches out to inner city students who show initiative, and tries to shape them into community leaders by securing for them summer internships with prestigious companies. Academic excellence is the cornerstone of the program, and the theory is that this encounter with the professional world will demystify the corporate culture and make their professional goals more attainable.

Prior to assuming his current role in 1997, Eddie served as assistant principal of the Museum Junior High School in Yonkers, and human relations facilitator for the Yonkers School System before that.

After receiving both his bachelor's of science degree in Criminal Justice and certificate in Business Administration from Mercy, he earned a master of science degree in Education from Herbert H. Lehman College.

This summer, he intends to complete the requirements for a professional diploma in School Administration from Fordham University Graduate School of Education. He served as an adjunct professor at Elizabeth Seton College, teaching Human Relations.

He received Mercy College's Carter G. Woodson Award in 2000. As a practicing martial artist for 37 years, he has competed in and won three United States Tae Kwon-Do championships. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Mercy College, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Phelps Stokes Fund, a member of the Zoning Board for the City of White Plains, and president and master instructor of the Westchester Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido Institute.

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