CEO retirements
Angeline Godwin, president of Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) in Virginia, plans to retire on July 1. She became the college’s CEO in 2012. Under her leadership, PHCC received several national distinctions, including the Community Colleges of Appalachia’s Workforce Development Award in 2014 and Achieving the Dream’s Leah Meyer Austin Award in 2015. PHCC also was recognized as an NC3 Leader School in 2018, and then in 2020 became the first institution in the nation to be named an NC3 Festo Center of Excellence in Industry 4.0 Advanced Manufacturing.
Under Godwin’s leadership, PHCC has received several competitive national and regional grants that helped the college to launch many unique programs. One example would be grants from the National Science Foundation and the American Association of Community Colleges that together enabled PHCC to establish the IDEA Academy. Another grant from the Verizon Foundation established the Verizon Innovative Learning Camp. With a $3.1 million grant from Harvest Foundation, PHCC established the SEED program that has enabled hundreds of students to attend PHCC for free. Godwin has had a significant influence on the college’s athletic program as well. Over the last nine years, PHCC has added a number of new sports and served more than 1,200 student-athletes.
Godwin is a former president of the Ashland Community and Technical College District in Kentucky. From 2002 to 2004, she was vice president for research and development at the University of Southern Mississippi. Earlier in her career, she was dean of arts and sciences at Jackson State Community College in Tennessee.
After retiring, Godwin plans to move back to her family home in Mississippi where she lived before coming to PHCC. She plans to enjoy her favorite hobbies: songwriting, painting and reading.
Jean Goodnow, who has served as president of Michigan’s Delta College for nearly 16 years, plans to retire in August. Goodnow became the fourth president of Delta in 2005, and is the first woman to hold the position.
“It is bittersweet to see Dr. Goodnow announce her retirement from Delta College,” said Michael Nash, chair of the college’s board of trustees. “She’s been a remarkable leader for the college and the legacy of her many accomplishments will benefit our community for years to come.”
Under Goodnow’s leadership, Delta has become a national leader in sustainability and has also received numerous awards and recognitions for its work on student success, technology and veteran services. Recently, to increase access for students and meet the needs of area employers, the college built learning centers in two downtown areas.
Prior to Delta, was president of Illinois Valley Community College for nine years. Prior to that, she was vice president of student services at North Iowa Area Community College for five years. Among her numerous leadership positions, Goodnow has served as a member of the American Association of Community Colleges board of directors and on its Sustainability Task Force and Commission on Diversity, Inclusion & Equity. In 2018, she traveled to France with a select group of education administrators to represent the United States and Delta College as a Fulbright Scholar. Currently, she is a member of the Michigan Community College Association, serving as past treasurer. Among awards she has received are Second Nature’s 1st Annual Climate Leadership Award for Outstanding Individual Climate Leadership and the Shirley Gordon Phi Theta Kappa National Award.
Kudos
Linda Lujan, president of Lamar Community College in Colorado, was among three community leaders in Colorado honored last month by the Community College of Denver for their outstanding work as part of the college’s 11th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Leadership Awards. The honorees are recognized for leading the Denver community forward and have inspired others with their vision, passion and sustained commitment.
Obituary
Jeff Armstrong, who served as president of Iowa’s Muscatine Community College from 2009 to 2011, died on January 11. He served for 33 years with Eastern Iowa Community Colleges in myriad positions, including provost, dean of instruction, chief academic officer, executive director of resource development and innovation, vice chancellor of facilities and vice chancellor of instruction. Armstrong was known for his love of traveling, which included visiting the Middle East through the Fulbright Foundation. From 2012 to 2018, he served in Afghanistan, first as senior manager for associate degrees and as senior manager for academic leadership, and most recently as senior international advisor to the ministry for higher education, all as part of USAID cooperative agreements.
Appointments
Dennis “Denny” Cosmo has been named director of the Joseph A. Marshall Veterans Center at Bristol Community College in Massachusetts. He previously was a veteran resource coordinator at the Community College of Rhode Island.
James E. Edwards was recently named vice president of student services at Guilford Technical Community College in North Carolina. Previously, he was campus dean of the Chesapeake Campus of Tidewater Community College in Virginia.
Abenicio Rael will serve as the first executive director of equity and inclusion at Front Range Community College in Colorado. Rael comes from the University of Colorado-Denver, where he most recently was director of Latinx student services.
Robert Robinson has been named the inaugural vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania. Most recently, he was director of multicultural student affairs at the University of North Georgia.
Payton Williams will serve as the next athletic director of Riverside City College in California, overseeing its 19-sport intercollegiate program. For the past four years, he has served as director of compliance and academic support at Azusa Pacific University.
Oakland Community College (Michigan) has announced two key leadership additions with Eunice Jeffries joining as director of government and community relations and Marc Thomas as dean of teaching excellence. Jeffries most recently was regional director of Read to a Child, a national nonprofit. Thomas previously was social science professor for 13 years at Lansing Community College (Michigan), where his work included leadership as global programs coordinator.
