Sandra Kurtinitis, president of the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) in Maryland, will become chair of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) board of directors on July 1, succeeding Mary S. Graham, president of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Alex Johnson, president of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Ohio, will serve as chair-elect of the 32-member board. He was elected to the position at the AACC annual convention in April, along with 10 new board members.
“Our association is once again so fortunate to have such highly respected community college leaders guiding our board,” said Walter G. Bumphus, AACC president and CEO. “Their experience and leadership will be key to implementing national strategic initiatives that will help member colleges serve their students.”
Sandra Kurtinitis
As president of CCBC, Kurtinitis leads the largest provider of higher education in the Baltimore region. An experienced and respected educator, administrator and author, she has been a community college professional for more than 50 years. She joined the AACC board in 2014.
Under Kurtinitis’ leadership, CCBC has made significant strides in improving service to students while strengthening its operational areas to best support instruction. She supports a lean executive structure, bringing strong central leadership across the college while fostering a collaborative, learning-centered environment throughout the institution.
Educating nearly 65,000 students annually, CCBC has received many accolades during Kurtinitis’ tenure. Most recently, CCBC was awarded the prestigious Kohlberg Prize for the college’s work in championing issues related to student veterans.
Kurtinitis previously was president Quinsigamond Community College in Massachusetts for 10 years. She also spent 22 years at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland, where she was an English professor and department chair.
Alex Johnson
Johnson joined Tri-C, the largest community college in Ohio, as president in 2013 after serving as president of the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh and chancellor of Delgado Community College in New Orleans. Earlier in his career, he was president of Tri-C’s Metropolitan Campus in Cleveland from 1993 to 2003.
Johnson has served in numerous capacities with AACC, including being a member of the board and executive committee; member of the Voluntary Framework on Accountability Steering Committee; member of the 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges; and co-chair of the Implementation Committee for the Commission’s report Reclaiming the American Dream.
New college representatives to the AACC board, who were elected in April, include:
- Lisa Avery, president, Portland Community College – Sylvania Campus (Oregon)
- Kandi Deitemeyer, president, Central Piedmont Community College (North Carolina)
- Kathryn Eggleston, president, Richland College (Texas)
- Patricia Hsieh, president, San Diego Miramar College (California)
- Belinda Miles, president, Westchester Community College (New York)
- Richard Rhodes, president, Austin Community College (Texas)
The board’s new council representatives will be Jo Alice Blondin, president of Clark State Community College (Ohio), and Robert Vela, Jr., president of San Antonio College (Texas).
Dawn Lindsay, president of Anne Arundel Community College (Maryland), will serve as the new institutional at-large representative. Joe Schaffer, president of Laramie County Community College (Wyoming), was selected by the AACC board to fill the unexpired term of a board member who resigned.
