CEOs on the move
Martha Garcia is the next superintendent/president at College of the Desert in California, effective August 20. She is currently superintendent/president of her alma mater, Imperial Valley College in California, a position she has held since 2018. She previously served at the college as vice president for student services and acting vice president for academic services. At the college, Garcia has developed several programs focused on serving underrepresented students, securing more than $20 million to support those programs and services. Garcia has worked at California community colleges since 1999 and has held several positions under student and academic services.
Peter Grant Jordan will become president of Dutchess Community College in New York on August 2. He is currently president of Tarrant County College-South Campus, Texas. Prior to Tarrant, Jordan held positions of vice president for institutional effectiveness and vice president of enrollment management and student development at LaGuardia Community College in New York. During his career, Jordan has served in a range of capacities, including interim vice chancellor for student affairs at the City University of New York system; vice president of enrollment and student affairs at Vaughn College (College of Aeronautics); dean of student enrollment at the New York Institute of Technology; dean of university admissions at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University; assistant and associate dean of university admissions at Adelphi University; associate director and acting director of admissions at Eugene Lang College/New School for Social Research; and assistant and associate director of admissions at Adelphi University.
Orinthia T. Montague will be the next president of Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee, effective September 1. She has served as president of Tompkins Cortland Community College in New York since 2017. Montague previously was vice president of student affairs, chief diversity officer and dean of students at Normandale Community College in Minnesota. Prior to that, she held several positions at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, including associate vice provost and dean of students. Montague’s key accomplishments at Tompkins Cortland include reversing a decade-long enrollment decline, establishing new community partnerships, leading the construction of a new childcare center, helping secure over $3 million in philanthropic donations, developing improved communications initiatives with campus constituencies and serving on the Governor’s New York Re-opening Advisory Task Force.
New CEOs
Alessandro “Alex” Anzalone has been appointed campus president for the Chastain Campus of Indian River State College (IRSC) in Florida. He comes from Florida’s Hillsborough Community College (HCC), where he served as dean of associate in science programs at the Brandon Campus since 2016. Anzalone also was interim campus president from 2019 to 2021. Previously, he was program chair and an instructor of engineering technology from 2009 to 2015. Anzalone also brings private sector and entrepreneurial experience to IRSC. He was vice president and founding co-partner of Florida Contract Growers Incorporated, a small wholesale producer of plants, herbs and flowers.
Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Ohio has announced leadership changes that will take effect on August 2. Lisa Williams will assume the role of Western Campus president. She has served as president of Tri-C’s Eastern Campus since 2019. William Cunion will serve as interim Eastern Campus president. Cunion has been with Tri-C since 2014, serving as associate dean of liberal arts and dean of academic affairs at the Eastern Campus. Janice Taylor Heard will assume the role of interim president at Westshore Campus. She comes from Western Campus, where she has served as a key member of the leadership team for more than a decade.
Also at Tri-C, Lindsay English, vice president of learning and engagement, will also assume the title of assistant provost. Angela Johnson, vice president of access and completion, will lead the development and operations of the new collegewide athletics program. Magda Gómez is now executive director of diversity and inclusion. an expansion of her prior role in the college’s human resources department.
Kudos
Francisco C. Rodriguez, chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, was recently named one of the “LA500” most influential people of 2021 by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Rodriguez is one of 20 leaders in the education category included in the publication’s sixth annual edition of its LA500 list.
“Many of the members on this year’s list demonstrated innovation and agility in the face of unprecedented challenges over the past year. And their vision and creativity can be counted on to help the city move forward,” the publication said.
LACCD Board of Trustees President Steve Veres said Rodriguez’s recognition is well earned.
“His astute leadership of navigating the district during one of the worst worldwide health emergencies in 100 years has been with distinction,” Veres said. “Organizational agility and personal fortitude were necessary, and the chancellor has answered the call with professionalism, adeptness and empathy for those he is charged to serve and lead.”
Appointments
Paul Beaudin has been selected as the next vice president of academic affairs for Northern Essex Community College (Massachusetts). He comes from Suffolk County Community College (New York), where he is vice president for academic affairs and interim vice president for student affairs.
Beverly Clark III has been named vice president of academic affairs/chief academic officer at Red Rocks Community College in Colorado. Previously, he was dean of instruction for the academic education division at Central Community College in Nebraska.
Doyle Hawkins is the new assistant director of institutional research at Cleveland State Community College (CSCC) in Tennessee. He is a graduate of CSCC and has served the college for almost almost 27 years, most recently as a technician in the institutional research department.
Brian Henderson is now Patrick & Henry Community College‘s (PHCC) assistant vice president of student engagement and inclusion, a new position at the Virginia college. Henderson has been the college’s athletic director since 2014 and has lead PHCC’s Equity Alliance Response team since its inception in 2020.
Karen Jones is now vice president for student affairs at Savannah Technical College in Georgia. Most recently, she was associate vice president for student affairs at East Georgia State College.
Shannon Mayers has been hired as executive and artistic director of the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts and the Robert J. Novins Planetarium at Ocean County College in New Jersey. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the arts, with extensive management and curatorial experience in professional and academic settings, most recently at the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College in New Hampshire.
Jeffrey Nasse is now provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Broward College in Florida. He has served in an interim role in the position since December 2020. Nasse has held various leadership roles at Broward since 2005, most recently as vice provost of academic affairs.
Ryan Preatto has been selected director of student services at Tallahassee Community College in Florida. He comes from from McNeese State University in Louisiana, where he was director of student activities and cultural engagement since 2019.
At Gadsden State Community College in Alabama, Tera Simmons is now executive vice president and Aletta Williamson is the new dean of enrollment and retention, as of August 16. Simmons will assist the president with the overall leadership and development of the college, as well as assist instructional deans in developing and meeting division, departmental and programmatic goals. She previously was an assistant superintendent of Hoover City Schools. Williamson is currently a psychology instructor at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, where she previously served as director of Upward Bound for over three years.
At Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts, Sharale W. Mathis is now vice president of academic and student affairs, and Harmony Cross is its first dean of student development, engagement and inclusion. Most recently, Mathis was dean of academic and student affairs at Middlesex Community College in Connecticut, where she was previously a tenured professor of biology, course coordinator, department chair and STEM division director. Cross served as director of the New York State Education Department’s Higher Education Opportunity Program at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City.
In Pennsylvania, Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) has announced the appointments of three deans: Timothy Brown is dean of liberal arts; Cheryl DiLanzo is dean of health sciences; and Terence Lynn is dean of business and professional studies. Brown previously was dean of the James L. Knight School of Communication at the Queens University of Charlotte. During the past year, DiLanzo was the temporary dean of health sciences at MCCC. Over her 18 years at the college, she has served in various positions, including radiography faculty member, clinical coordinator and director of the radiography program. Lynn began his career as an adjunct psychology faculty and subsequently transitioned to the administrative roles of director and assistant dean.
