New CEOs
Towuanna Porter Brannon will become the ninth president of Virginia’s Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC), beginning in 2021. She has served as vice president of student services at Mitchell Community College in North Carolina since 2016. Previously, Porter Brannon served for a total of six years at LaGuardia Community College in New York as a registrar and then as an assistant dean of student affairs. Prior to that, she was at Berkeley College where she was a dean and then assistant vice president. She also served at Borough of Manhattan Community College (New York) as a coordinator for academic advising and transfer. Porter Brannon began her career as an assistant director and academic adviser at St. John’s College in New York in 1999. Four years later, she moved to the New York Institute of Technology to become its central advising center coordinator.
Jermaine Whirl will be the new president of Augusta Technical College in Georgia, effective November 3. He is currently vice president for learning and workforce development and vice president for economic development and corporate training at Greenville Technical College in South Carolina. Previously, Whirl was dean of the School of Business and School of Art & Design at Gwinnett Technical College and executive director/dean of adult education at Savannah Technical College. He also served as a full-time faculty member at Georgia Southern University’s Parker College of Business Administration and East Georgia State College. Whirl’s career in higher education began at Winthrop University where he worked in the office of institutional advancement and alumni relations.
Interim CEO
Michele Shirley has been named interim president of North Georgia Technical College. She has served as the college’s vice president of administrative services since February and previously was director of administrative services since 2017. Shirley has worked in various roles at the college for more than 14 years, including director of admissions and registrar, special populations and retention coordinator, career planner, marketing specialist and associate instructor of business management.
Acting CEO
Jim Carlson is now acting chancellor of River Parishes Community College in Louisiana. He previously was vice chancellor of strategic initiatives and external affairs at Northshore Technical Community College (NTCC), where he oversaw advancement, workforce, adult education, YouthBuild, public relations, STEM outreach, testing services, grants and professional development. Carlson’s previous positions at NTCC were dean of academics, associate provost of academics, and dean of administration at the Lacombe Campus.
Appointments
Nahomi Carlisle has been named chief equity and compliance officer at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. She previously was director of diversity and inclusion/ADA compliance at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
