CEOs
(From top left) Margaret Hamilton, Warren Nichols, Mark Heinrich, Greg Smith and Stan Jones
Margaret Hamilton will serve as the seventh president of Lane Community College in Oregon, effective July 1. She is currently vice president for academic affairs, institutional effectiveness and planning at Camden County College in New Jersey, a position she has held since 2015. Hamilton has 28 years of experience in the community college system. She brings valuable insight in funding and budgeting, enrollment management, accreditation, program review, student success, employee relations, community partnerships, innovation, institutional effectiveness and planning, technology, capital construction, and fundraising. Her background in nursing is an added plus for the college’s healthcare programs.
Warren Nichols was named president of College of the Mainland (Texas), effective February 13. Nichols previously served as vice chancellor of community colleges for the Tennessee Board of Regents, which leads the 13 community colleges in the state. As president of Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee, he collaborated with local bankers to create a short-term bank-teller program that was highlighted in the Wall Street Journal. In an effort to improve college preparedness among high school students, Nichols expanded the college’s dual-enrollment offerings to serve more than 1,200 students in 12 counties. He launched international and diversity initiatives, which resulted in an increase in graduation rates for African-American and Hispanic students.
Retirements
Alabama Community Colleges Chancellor Mark Heinrich is retiring effective April 1 due to a prolonged illness. Jimmy Baker, who has served as acting chancellor since August, will continue in that role. Heinrich, the former president of Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, was appointed chancellor of the community college system in 2012.
Greg Smith, president of Central Community College (CCC) in Nebraska, has announced he will retire on December 31. Named as CCC’s fourth president in 2008, Smith served as executive vice president for two years. His previous work included 15 years with the Colorado community colleges, both as vice president for institutional effectiveness, planning and technology at the Community College of Denver and as director of research and planning for the Colorado Community College System. He began his professional career as a psychologist advising on educational and mental health policy issues for the Denver Research Institute at the University of Denver. Smith was a past chair of the Nebraska Community College Association CEO Council. He also served on four American Association of Community Colleges Commissions and recently served a two-year term as president of the Postsecondary International Network.
Obituary
Stan Jones, the founder of Complete College America, passed away February 6 after a battle with cancer. He was 67. During his more than 40-year career, Jones, a Democrat, served in the Indiana House of Representatives, as a senior adviser to then-Gov. Evan Bayh and as the state’s fifth commissioner for higher education. During his time as commissioner, Jones oversaw the development of the 21st Century Scholars program, Indiana’s Education Roundtable and the implementation of Core 40, the state’s required high school curriculum. In 2009, Jones founded Complete College America, a nonprofit working in more than 40 states hoping to increase the number of people with career certificates or college degrees and focusing on closing attainment gaps in underrepresented populations.
