Interim CEO
Cynthia Anthony will serve as interim president of Lawson State Community College in Alabama, effective September 1. She has 30 years of higher education experience, most recently serving as interim vice chancellor for student success at the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) and executive vice president and dean of students at Lawson State. Prior to that, Anthony served at Bessemer State Technical College, which merged with Lawson State in 2005. In addition to various other leadership roles within ACCS, she was interim president at three other ACCS institutions: Drake State Community and Technical College, Shelton State Community College and Enterprise State Community College.
Obituary
Robert W. Ramsay, who served as chancellor of the Alamo Colleges District from 1993 to 2003, passed away on August 9. He was 75. Ramsay oversaw the district in its formative years, including its acquisition of land for the development of Northwest Vista College and Northeast Lakeview College. Ramsay also created the district’s first public relations and governmental relations offices, which raised the district’s profile, increasing enrollment and working more closely and successfully with the state and federal legislatures.
During his term as chancellor, Ramsay also led the district in providing workforce programs to retrain workers at Kelly Air Force Base (AFB), which was closing. Later, the district provided the same assistance to workers at the local Levi Strauss plant when it shut down.
Ramsay added training, community and technology centers to the district, including the Westside Education and Training Center, which included a technology center open to the community, and the Brackenridge and Harlandale Education and Training Centers. He also opened the Advanced Technology Center at the former Kelly AFB, which played a critical role in providing highly skilled workers for companies such as Lockheed-Martin, Boeing Aerospace and others, and played a major role in the development of what became KellyUSA.
One of Ramsay’s proudest achievements was working with the group that encouraged the state legislature to establish dual-credit programs. His efforts played a significant role in creating this program. Dual-credit programs at Alamo Colleges now enroll more than 12,000 students.
Ramsay was responsible for many of the district’s initial partnerships, including one with the local LULAC council that resulted in the one-of-a-kind Parent/Child Scholarship program that continues today. Another partnership with the cities of New Braunfels and Seguin yielded the Central Texas Technology Center, which has expanded to twice its original capacity.
Following his retirement, Ramsay served as provost at the Tarpon Springs campus of St. Petersburg College in Florida, before retiring and occasionally providing educational consulting. Prior to Alamo Colleges, Ramsay was president of Camden County College in New Jersey from 1987 to 1993, and also served in various roles at colleges in Pennsylvania and Kansas.
Appointment
Gillian McKnight Tutein is now vice president for enrollment administration and student success at the Community College of Denver. She previously was vice president of academic and student affairs and senior academic officer for Front Range Community College in Colorado. Prior to higher education, McKnight-Tutein worked at several Fortune 500 companies, including Johnson and Johnson, Alamo and Comcast, where she focused on employee training and education.
