Retirements
Linda Allen, who has served as president of Hawkeye Community College (Iowa) since 2011, plans to retire on June 30. A highlight of her tenure has been the expansion of high school career programs developed in partnership with local school districts. She also has overseen construction of the Van G. Miller Adult Learning Center, whose first classes will begin this month. Allen previously served at the college as vice president of academic affairs. Prior to that, she was at Kirkwood Community College where she was executive dean of arts and humanities and also headed its quality improvement program.
Obituary
Kenneth Breeden, who helped found the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and served as president of Lanier Technical College, has passed away. He was 77. Breeden helped to unify the separately operated vocational-technical schools in Georgia into the TCSG, which brought together technical colleges as leaders in economic and workforce development. In 1983, Gov. Joe Frank Harris created the Board of Postsecondary Vocational Education, and the next year appointed Breeden as its executive director. Prior to his leadership with the state, Breeden was president of Lanier Tech from 1975 to 1984, and was a faculty member, dean and president of DeVry Institute of Technology in Atlanta from 1970 to 1975. He also served at the Georgia Institute of Technology as a research engineer from 1964 to 1970.
Appointments
Kellie Byrd Danso has been named dean of students at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. Most recently, she was director of student engagement and career development at Gateway Community College (Connecticut), where she previously served as director of career services and veteran affairs.
Janette Funaro is now dean for social sciences, education and world languages at Waubonsee Community College in Illinois. She previously served at Johnson County Community College (Kansas) since 2000 as a professor of foreign languages and as the foreign language department chair.
At Cape Fear Community College in North Carolina, Lynn Criswell is now dean of English and social sciences and Brandon Guthrie is dean of arts and humanities. Criswell has 18 years of teaching and leadership experience, including serving as director of the college’s Center for Teaching Excellence. Guthrie brings six years of departmental supervisory experience, 10 years of teaching in higher education, and 10 years of gallery management and curatorial experience.
At Hudson County Community College in New Jersey, Jennie Pu is now dean of libraries and John Quigley is executive director of public safety and security. Pu has more than 13 years of diverse library and technology experience in academia, museums and K-12 schools, as well as expertise in the startup technology sector. Quigley recently was chief of safety and security for the Edison Job Corps Center in New Jersey.
Kudos
Elizabeth DeChurch Strenkowski, director of admissions at Community College of Allegheny County’s Boyce Campus, has been named the Pennsylvania School Counselor Advocate of the Year by the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association (PSCA). Most recently, Strenkowski, who has been with the college since 2000, took on the task of hosting the inaugural Pennsylvania School Counselor Symposium, a joint effort between PSCA and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
