Kudos
Pam Eddinger, president of Bunker Hill Community College (Massachusetts), is a recipient of the Boston Business Journal Icon Awards: A Women Who Mean Business Program. Eddinger, who is one of 12 honorees, was recognized for her visionary leadership in widening pathways to higher education.
“Dr. Eddinger has guided BHCC through a historic transition to tuition-free community college, helping more students reach their goals and strengthening access and opportunity across Massachusetts,” BHCC said in a social media post.
Retirements
Angela Kersenbrock, president of the Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA), will retire June 30, 2026.
Kersenbrock, who currently serves on the board of the American Association of Community Colleges, has led CCBA for seven years – a time of “unprecedented membership growth, enhanced national influence and improved organizational stability,” according to a CCBA press release. Since 2018, CCBA — an affiliated council of AACC — has grown from 24 institutional members to more than 220. The organization also has established critical grant and partnership funding streams and strengthened its national advocacy role.
“Angela is the reason the [community college baccalaureate] movement is recognized at a national level,” CCBA Board Chair Joyce Hammer said in a release. “The growth of the organization and partnerships she has developed will ensure both the sustainability and future influence of the organization.
Prior to CCBA, Kersenbrock had more than 34 years of experience in higher education leadership.
Obituary
Peter A. Spina, the third and longest-serving president of Monroe Community College (MCC) in New York, has passed away.
Spina headed the college for 17 years, from 1982 to 1999. Under his leadership, MCC saw record enrollments, including an increase among students of color to comprise nearly a quarter (24%) of the student body.
It was during Spina’s tenure that the college launched its 2+2 dual-admission degree programs, expanded facilities, and opened its Damon City Campus and Applied Technologies Center. In 2007, MCC renamed its administration building in Spina’s honor.
In 1994, Spina received the Association of Community College Trustees’ Thomas Peters Leadership Award, followed by its Outstanding CEO award in 1998. He also served as a commissioner for the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from his alma mater, the University of Albany.
After leaving MCC, Spina became the founding executive director of the Institute for Community College Development at Cornell University, a professional leadership development and research partnership between SUNY and Cornell University. From 2003 until assuming the duties of interim president at SUNY Institute of Technology in 2004, Spina served as interim president at Thomas Nelson Community College (Virginia).
Spina got his start in the two-year sector after a semi-professional baseball stint. He worked as a professor and executive dean at Suffolk County Community College (New York) from 1963 to 1980.
Appointments
Melissa Bouse has been promoted to executive director of marketing and public relations at Northern Essex Community College. She previously served as the Massachusetts college’s director of public relations.
