Newsmakers

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CEO retirement

Adenuga Atewologun, president of Riverland Community College (RCC), plans to retire at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2023. He will have served 10 years at the helm of the Minnesota college.

Under Atewologun’s leadership, RCC has gone through an intensive review of its academic programs and seen a growth in transfer pathway programs and enrollments. Among his accomplishments is the college’s establishment of specialty areas at each campus building, such as a $10.1 million remodel and expansion of its Transportation, Trades and Industrial Education Center.

Atewologun is known for his ability to build partnerships that serve its students and local communities, such as teaming with the Hormel Foundation to create a scholarship that allows all graduating students at a local high school to attend Riverland at no cost to them. He also worked with the Hormel Foundation, community farmers and producers, and community leaders to create academic programs in agriculture and food science technology at RCC. In addition, Atewologun worked with the University of Minnesota, elected officials and leaders from the private sector to create an integrated complex — known as the Future of Advanced Agricultural Research in Minnesota (FAARM) — that will include world-class facilities and several hundred acres of fields.

A popular community figure, Atewologun has served on numerous boards and committees across southern Minnesota.

“Nuga (Atewologun) has been an effective and visionary leader,” Minnesota State Chancellor Devinder Malhotra said in a memo to the college community. “He is passionate about the success of the students and of the communities Riverland serves. He has demonstrated that strong leadership can co-exist with empathetic approaches to manage the college.”

Prior to Riverland, Atewologun was vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Prairie State College in Illinois. He also previously served at the College of DuPage (Illinois) as a professor of engineering and physics and dean of natural and applied sciences.

Kudos

David Stout, president of Brookdale Community College in New Jersey, has been named to ROI-NJ’s Influencers: Higher Education 2022 list. ROI-NJ, a digital and print business publication, annually names the presidents with the greatest influence and impact on their schools and within the business community. This is the second time Stout has been selected as a leader and influencer in higher education by ROI-NJ.

Appointments

Patricia Sims, president of Drake State Community & Technical College (Alabama), will serve on the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which advises the White House on how to reduce physical and cyber risks and improve the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors. President Joe Biden this month announced his intention to appoint Sims to the 26-member panel that comprises industry and government leaders.

Judith Eisenberg is the new dean of sponsored research and grants at Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York City. Previously, she was grants director in the advancement, communications and external relations department at Bronx Community College in New York.

Jeanine Nestor has been named senior director of development at Indian River State College. Among her key roles will be fundraising for the Florida college’s ambitious expansion of allied health and nursing programs. In addition to being a registered nurse, Nestor owned and operated a licensed Florida home care agency from 2018 to 2021.

Keith Paul has joined Northern Essex Community College (Massachusetts) as executive director of marketing communications. He comes from Springfield Technical Community College (Massachusetts) where he was director of marketing and communications since 2019.

Marc Serrett has been named vice president of employee relations and human resources at Riverland Community College in Minnesota. He has worked in human resources management for more than 15 years, with seven years at South Dakota State University as the director of human resources.

John Sieracki is the first leadership gift officer and manager of campaign initiatives at Holyoke Community College. He joins the Massachusetts college after nearly 19 years at Mass Humanities, where he started in 2003 as director of development.

About the Author

Matthew Dembicki
Matthew Dembicki edits Community College Daily and serves as associate vice president of communications for the American Association of Community Colleges.
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