DeRionne Pollard this fall will become the next president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). She is the first woman to take the helm of the 105-year-old community college organization.
The announcement on Wednesday by the AACC board of directors comes after a rigorous national search and a special meeting of the board. The board sought a visionary leader who could “navigate challenges, seize opportunities and realize innovative solutions to the increasing need for the affordable, accredited and relevant educational opportunities provided by our colleges,” Sunita “Sunny” Cooke, AACC past board chair and chair of the search committee, said in a release.
“Dr. Pollard’s impressive career has demonstrated that she is a leader among leaders,” continued Cooke, who is president of MiraCosta College in California. “Her vision, energy and passion will propel AACC and the sector forward to meet the evolving needs of learners and dynamic workplaces, integrate disruptive technologies and produce critical workforce solutions for a global economy.”
Pollard is currently president of Nevada State University and is a first-generation college graduate. She previously was president at Montgomery College in Maryland for 11 years and at Las Positas College in California from 2008 to 2010. Prior to that, she served at the College of Lake County (Illinois) for more than 12 years in various posts. Pollard also has served on the AACC board.
Pollard said she is ready to champion AACC’s more than 1,000 community college members across the country.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead a national organization whose mission is urgently relevant to the future of our nation,” she said. “Community colleges are where tomorrow is born — in classrooms filled with discoverers, doers and difference-makers — and they are the solution to prepare essential workforce, close entry gaps and fuel civic renewal in every corner of this country. This role is more than leadership: it is a charge to reimagine what is possible when access, affordability and excellence converge.”
Pollard will succeed veteran educator Walter Bumphus, who has led AACC since 2011. He announced his retirement earlier this year.
“Passing the baton to a proven leader such as Dr. Pollard is an honor, and I am confident that the organization and the nation’s community colleges will not just persevere, they will thrive under DeRionne’s leadership,” Bumphus said.
Pollard was named one of Washington’s 100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian Magazine, won a 2017 Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and a Visionary Award from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. In 2021, she was named National Champion for Women and Community Colleges Leadership by the American Association for Women in Community Colleges, an AACC affiliate council. Pollard has also testified on college affordability before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
