New CEOs
Peggy Heinrich is now the ninth president of Elgin Community College (ECC) and also the first woman CEO in the Illinois college’s 75-year history. She most recently served as ECC’s interim president since July 2024 and has held various positions at the college over the last 18 years, including vice president of teaching, learning and student development for eight years, dean of adult/continuing education and workforce development for two years, dean of adult education for six years and associate dean of adult education for two years.
Heinrich’s “leadership at ECC has been instrumental in fostering continuity and stability, ensuring the college remains focused on its mission to serve students and the community,” the college said in a release. “Her leadership style, grounded in collaboration and inclusivity, has helped strengthen ECC’s focus on student success and institutional goals.”
Before joining ECC in 2007, Heinrich was associate director for adult education and family literacy at the Illinois Community College Board. She also has served as director of programs for Literacy Chicago, adult literacy tutoring coordinator for the Albany Park Community Center and a consultant for various community-based organizations in Chicago. Heinrich has taught English as a second language to adult learners and began her career teaching English in the Chicago Public School system.
James Perey has been selected as the 12th president of Arizona’s Cochise College, effective next month. He currently is the college’s executive vice president for academics, a position he has held since August 2022.
Perey is an experienced educator with more than 27 years of leadership and teaching experience in K-12 and higher education, according to a release. In his current role as executive vice president, the U.S. Army veteran provides vision, leadership and innovation for credit and non-credit programs, including academics, career and technical education (CTE), and workforce development.
Prior to Cochise, Perey served for more than 20 years at Arizona’s Yavapai College, where he held the positions of executive dean, associate vice president for strategic initiatives, associate dean for CTE and faculty.
“James brings a wealth of experience that aligns with the college’s mission to serve students and the community. He understands and knows our college, the communities and its leaders best,” said Governing Board Chair Tim Quinn, a retired Army colonel. “His optimism, visionary leadership, and genuine care for the college’s staff, students and their families form a strong foundation from which he will fulfill his duties and responsibilities as the next Cochise College president.”
Omar Javier Torres this month became De Anza College’s fifth president. He comes to the California college from College of the Canyons in southern California, where he was assistant superintendent/vice president of instruction. In that role, he oversaw the initiation of new career technical education and apprenticeship programs and a significant expansion of dual enrollment and noncredit courses and partnerships, according to a release.
Torres has also worked to boost supplemental funding, securing grants for apprenticeships, zero-cost textbooks and culturally responsive pedagogy as well as a $1 million state appropriation to fund a training lab and simulation equipment for the college’s health professions programs.
Previously, Torres was the college’s associate vice president of instruction and instructional dean of the School of Mathematics, Sciences & Health Professions. He has also served as vice president of academic affairs at Santa Ana College, department chair and tenured professor of chemistry at Moorpark College, and an adjunct faculty member at Los Angeles City College.
“Omar’s comprehensive understanding of community colleges, forward-thinking perspective, and
innovative approach to education is grounded in a deep commitment to students that mirrors
the college’s core values,” Lee Lambert, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, said in a statement.
In addition to his duties at College of the Canyons, Torres also has served in statewide roles as president of the California Community Colleges Chief Instructional Officers Association and as a member of the CCC Curriculum Committee, Consultation Council, and the Community College League of California’s Advisory Committee on Legislation.
Appointment
Naydeen González-De Jesús will serve as vice president of Northern Essex Community College‘s Lawrence Campus and community relations, starting mid-January. She comes to the Massachusetts college from San Antonio College (Texas), where she was president for more than a year before transitioning last spring to the district office to serve as presidential project executive. Gonzalez-De Jesus also previously served as the public diplomacy officer for the U.S. Embassy in Argentina.
