Kenneth L. Ender, Ph.D., was selected by the Board of Trustees of William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, to serve as the fifth president of Harper College effective July 1, 2009. Harper College is a comprehensive community college dedicated to building community through student success, providing excellent education at an affordable cost, promoting personal growth, enriching the local community and meeting the challenges of a global society.

Ender is working to increase Harper's focus on student success. As a new "Achieving the Dream" College, Harper is moving forward on several fronts. The college held a Week of Engagement activities focused on involving the community in discussions on the roles of higher education and workforce and community needs. This symposium resulted in a white paper that will feed a community-based strategic planning session in March 2010. His goal is for Harper College to become the model of a 21st-century community college. Since his arrival at Harper, Ender has been asked to serve as a member of the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Commission on Research, Technology and Emerging Trends.

Prior to arriving at Harper College, Ender had served as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cumberland County College in Vineland, New Jersey for 11 years. In total, the college serves three urban cities, 10 townships and one borough. He successfully positioned the college as a vibrant institution that enhances the community's quality of life.

In September 2008, Ender won the Northeast Region President/CEO Award issued annually by the Association of Community College Trustees. The award is given to a community college president/CEO who has initiated and developed innovative programs, served on technical or special committees, and promoted positive partnerships on campus and throughout the community. Ender was chosen as the recipient of the 8th Annual Community College Alliance Leadership Award, given by Franklin University in Ohio. He was also selected as the National President Pacesetter of the Year by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations and received the prestigious Hesed Acts of Loving Kindness Award from Temple Beth Hillel in Vineland.

He served on the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Board, and the Executive and Facilities Committees, as well as the Academic Affairs Council of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. Ender was immediate past chair of the New Jersey Community College Presidents and served on the Cumberland County Workforce Board. He was a member of the boards of Cumberland County Economic Development, the Cumberland County Intermunicipality Empowerment Zone, South Jersey Healthcare and the Greater Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton Chambers of Commerce.

During the past 30 years, Ender has held a variety of positions in higher education, including vice president for academic affairs at Richland Community College, interim district dean at Cuyahoga Community College, associate vice president for administrative services at Cleveland State University, director of student activities at Virginia Commonwealth University, and director of student advising at University of Georgia. He also has teaching experience and has written numerous publications.

In addition to his Ph.D. in urban services leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, Ender holds a Master in Education from University of Georgia, and bachelor's degree in business management, also from Virginia Commonwealth University

Dr. Ken Atwater became Hillsborough Community College's seventh president on July 1, 2010. As the chief academic and executive officer of HCC, Dr. Atwater oversees an institution with five campuses: Brandon, Dale Mabry, Plant City, SouthShore, and Ybor City. HCC serves more than 45,000 credit and non-credit students annually, employs more than 2,400 full and part-time employees and is supported by an annual budget ('09-'10) of over $200 million.

Prior to coming to HCC, Dr. Atwater served as the President of South Mountain Community College, a position he was appointed to in 2001. For the five years prior to becoming President he was Vice President for Student Services at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan, Vice President and Dean of Students at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland, Vice President for Student Development Services at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina; and Dean of Students at Catonsville Community College in Catonsville, Maryland.

At Jackson State Community College, in his native state of Tennessee, Dr. Atwater was Director of Counseling Services and Director of Student Activities.

Dr. Atwater earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education (with a focus on community colleges) from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, in 1989. He earned a Master of Science degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1978 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and Theater, and also Sociology, in 1977, all from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

The President is a graduate of the prestigious Executive Leadership Institute of the League for Innovation in the Community College; and also is a graduate of the Institute for Leadership Effectiveness, University of Tennessee – Knoxville.

Dr. Atwater served a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) July 2004 – June 2007. He served on the 2005-06 Executive Committee of the AACC Board, and is currently serving on the AACC Commission on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. He has also served on the American Association of Community College Commission on Research, and has been Vice Chair of the Board of the National Institute for Student Success.

He has served on the Greater Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors since August 2001, the Valley of the Sun YMCA Board of Directors since July 2002, the Institute for Community College Development (Cornell University) Board of Directors since August 2006, the College Board's Community College Advisory Panel since October 2007, and the Council of North Central Two-Year Colleges Executive Board since Fall 2008.

On October 1, 2008, Dr. Cecilia Cervantes became the third president of Hennepin Technical College (HTC), with campuses in Eden Prairie and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota – the largest technical college in the state. She came to the Twin Cities suburbs from northern California after serving for six years as the president of the College of Alameda (COA) – a comprehensive community and technical college. At HTC, she has been immersed in forming partnerships with businesses, government agencies and area school districts. She has provided leadership to expand college services to create a college-going culture among all high school students, especially students from underrepresented groups. Additionally, the college is expanding is expanding its technical offerings to include new programs that offer career options in emerging technologies and in sustainable industries.

She has been an administrator in two-year colleges for more than 26 years in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and California. Cervantes is committed to the community and technical college mission of providing career and technical training, as well as basic skills and transfer education to all students, especially those from underrepresented groups, first generation students, and new Americans.

While she was president of COA, the College formed partnerships with the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD); the University of Southern California; Cabrillo College; and the James Irvine Foundation. These collaborations led to new programs that have expanded student successes in foundation skills, transfer, and vocational education. In 2003, COA and AUSD launched the Alameda Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), an early college high school located on College of Alameda's campus. The California Community College Foundation, through a grant partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, provided ASTI with seed money for its initial development. ASTI celebrated its first graduating class in 2008 – graduates obtained their high school diploma, as well as an average of 63 hours of college credit.

Cervantes has been active in each of the communities that she has served. Her community contributions include service on the board of directors of the Alameda Rotary Club, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County, the West Alameda Business Association, and the Alameda Chamber of Commerce, as well as being appointed as a commissioner on the City of Alameda's Public Arts Commission. She also contributes at the national level, as president of the National Community College Hispanic Council and as director of the board of the American Association of Community Colleges.

A native of El Paso, Texas, Cervantes is the eldest of eight children and received a bachelor's and a master's degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. She also earned a Ph.D. degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Charlene M. Dukes is the eighth and first female president of Prince George’s Community College and has twenty-seven years of progressive leadership experience and administrative responsibility in higher education.

From 2002 through 2006, she served on the Appointed Board of Education of Prince George’s County and chaired the Student Support, Student Appeals, and Personnel Committees. In May 2007, she accepted an appointment from Governor Martin O’Malley to serve a three-year term on the Maryland State Board of Education and was elected in July 2009 to serve a one-year term as vice-chair of the Board. In October 2007, the African-American Alumni Council of the University of Pittsburgh recognized Dr. Dukes as an Outstanding Alumnus, and in 2008, she received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 2009, she received the “1st Ladies Award” given by Radio One and My Sister’s Keeper Organization and the “Luminary Award” from the Prince George’s County Black Chamber of Commerce.

She is a member of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, the Business Round Table, the Harlem Renaissance Foundation, and a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Lucille Jordan was appointed president of Nashua Community College in 1998. She has achieved national and state recognition for her commitment to community service, civic responsibility, developmental education, and business and industry partnerships with education.

Jordan has served as chair of Campus Compact for New Hampshire, a statewide association of four- and two-year college presidents and private sector partners who are committed to integrating service, leadership, and civic responsibility in higher education. She has also served as vice-chair of the national Campus Compact organization's board of directors. Jordan currently serves on the Greater United Way of Nashua board of directors, the New Hampshire College and University Council, the New Hampshire Postsecondary Commission, and the board of the Academy for Science and Design.

Jordan's personal and professional mission is to work toward a more civil society, one in which the worth of every person is recognized. As president of Nashua Community College, she creates an environment that not only develops academic skills, but also nurtures a sense of self-identity and acceptance. It is not unusual to see Jordan taking time from her duties as college president to help a student with a research paper or tutor an ESL student in English.

On July 1, 2010, the Board of Trustees of The City University of New York appointed Eduardo J. Martí as the first Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges. An experienced educator who has led several community colleges with distinction for more than 25 years, Dr. Martí came to CUNY in 2000 as President of Queensborough Community College. Prior to that, he served for six years as President of Corning Community College of the State University of New York (SUNY), and for eight years, as President of SUNY's Tompkins Cortland Community College. Dr. Martí also served as Executive Dean of Tunxis Community College (Campus CEO, CAO) and Acting President of Middlesex Community College, both located in Connecticut.

An advocate for community college education, high standards and traditional values of education, Dr. Martí serves on the Board of Trustees of Teachers College at Columbia University, as well as the Community College Research Center Advisory Board of Teachers College at Columbia University. Additionally, he serves as Chair of the Board for the Hispanic Educational Telecommunications System (HETS), a member of the Board of Governors of the Council for Aid to Education, and of The College Board's Advisory Board on Community Colleges. Having previously served on the Board of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), he was elected once again in March 2009. He was elected as a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in October, 2010.

His terms on the Boards of Excelsior College and The California Community College Collaborative at the University of California, Riverside (C4) expired. He has served as past President of the Association of Presidents of Public Community Colleges of the State of New York, a member of the ACE Commission on International Education, on the Board of the Cornell Institute for Community College Development, Chair of the Small and Rural Commission of the American Association of Community Colleges, member of the Executive Committee of the American Association of Community College President's Academy, member of the Commission on Secondary Education of the Middle States Association.

In November, 2006, Dr. Martí had the distinction of being asked by the transition team for New York Governor-elect Elliot Spitzer to serve on an Education Policy Advisory Committee. In May 2007, he was appointed by Governor Spitzer to the New York State Commission on Higher Education. In that capacity, he chaired the Workforce & Economic Development Committee of the Commission.

Active too, within each community of which he was part, Dr. Martí has held positions as President of the United Way of Tompkins County, member of the Private Industry Council of Steuben, Schuyler and Chemung Counties, and honorary member of the Ithaca and Corning Rotary Clubs. Also, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Queens Chamber of Commerce and of the Board of Directors of the Queens Symphony Orchestra.

Three times a graduate of New York University, Dr. Martí holds the Bachelor of Arts, Master of Science, and Ph.D. degrees in biology from the institution. He is the recipient of the Founders Day Award from New York University and was chosen as the recipient of the New York University Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumnus Award in November 2007. In October 2008, the New York Post honored Dr. Martí with their Liberty Medal Award as a champion of human rights. He was previously named to the Honor Roll of the Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges.

As the recipient of a Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad award, he spent June 2004 traveling in China with leaders of minority serving institutions.

Dr. Nancy J. McCallin is the President of the Colorado Community College System (CCCS). As CCCS President, Dr. McCallin leads the state’s largest system of higher education, which serves more than 151,000 students annually. The Colorado Community College System has career and academic programs in the 13 state community colleges and career and technical programs in more than 160 school districts and seven other post-secondary institutions.

Before coming to CCCS, Dr. McCallin served for six years as the executive director of the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting, a cabinet level position. As state budget director, she was responsible for budget policy and resource allocation for the state’s $13 billion budget.

For a decade prior to her role as Colorado’s budget director, Dr. McCallin was chief economist for the Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly. From 1981 to 1989, she was an economist with United Banks of Colorado, Inc. (now Wells Fargo) where she was responsible for analyzing and forecasting national, state, and mountain region economies.

Currently, Dr. McCallin serves on the board of the American Council on Education, is a member of the Colorado Workforce Development Council, a board member of the Community Advisory Board of Wells Fargo Bank of Colorado, a board member of the Metro-Denver Chamber of Commerce, a board member of the Institute of International Education, and a member of the Women’s Forum. Previously, Dr. McCallin served as commissioner on the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, chair and board member of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, board member of the National Association of State Budget Officers, board member of the National Association of Business Economists, president of the Denver Association of Business Economists, and commissioner on the Information Management Commission of the State of Colorado.

Dr. McCallin earned a Bachelor of Arts from Claremont McKenna College, and a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Dr. Lawrence A. Nespoli is president of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, the statewide coordinating and lobbing organization for New Jersey's community college system. He also teaches in Rowan University's Doctorate Program in Community College Leadership.

Community colleges are the largest provider of higher education in New Jersey, with 19 colleges and more than 50 campuses located in all 21 counties throughout the state. One of Nespoli's proudest accomplishments has been the creation of the NJ STARS (Student Tuition Assistance Rewards Scholarship) Program, which provides full community college scholarships to high school students who graduate in the top 15 percent of their class. Students who complete an associate degree with at least a B average are then eligible for junior and senior year scholarships at New Jersey's four-year colleges and universities.

Nespoli previously served in a number of campus and state-level positions in Maryland and Pennsylvania. He is a nationally recognized leader, researcher, author and teacher in American higher education. He has published extensively in the area of college finance and legislative trends, and has been a frequent speaker at national, regional and state conferences. He has taught mathematics and philosophy courses at the undergraduate level, and has served as a national lecturer in educational administration doctorate programs. He holds a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University, a master's degree from Catholic University, and a doctorate from Penn State. Nespoli resides with his wife and two children in Hopewell, New Jersey.

Dr. R. Scott Ralls is the seventh president of the North Carolina Community College System. With 58 colleges serving approximately 900,000 students each year, the NC Community College System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States and is internationally recognized for its programs to foster economic and workforce development.

Having assumed the presidency on May 1, 2008, Dr. Ralls is the first former community college president to serve in this post in 30 years and only the second former North Carolina community college president to hold this position. In his brief tenure, he has successfully led efforts to achieve the first weighted-funding for technical education in the System’s history, redesigned customized training programs to provide greater support for existing businesses that focus on technology and productivity investments, and helped shape the System’s Creating Success budgeting and advocacy campaign that is resulting in enhancements to equipment and healthcare program funding. He has been a close collaborator with Governor Beverly Perdue in the creation of her JobsNOW economic transition and accelerated job training strategies, led the creation of the system-wide Code Green initiative that fosters clean energy job training and campus sustainability incentives, and implemented a system-wide approach to establish guiding goals focused on student success and credential completion.

Between 2002 and 2008, Dr. Ralls served as the President of Craven Community College during a time when the college achieved record enrollment growth and fundraising support. In addition, the college opened the Institute for Aeronautical Technology, developed the Bosch and Siemens Advanced Manufacturing Center and led the statewide redesign of information technology programs. Craven Community College also achieved acclaim for fostering unique educational partnerships, including its University Connections program with East Carolina University and NC State University’s College of Engineering, and Craven Early College, a model technology-based, Early College High School. In 2007, Dr. Ralls received the Freedom Fund Award from the Craven County NAACP for his "efforts to actively identify and incorporate the true needs of the community into the mission of Craven Community College."

Dr. Ralls has been an active leader in North Carolina’s high school transformation efforts as an original member of the North Carolina New Schools Board of Directors. Almost one-third of the Early College High Schools in the United States are today located on North Carolina community college campuses. Dr. Ralls also has worked with the British government in its review of community college-equivalent Further Education (FE) colleges in England and, in 2007, was named the 10th honorary fellow of Warwickshire College in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Ralls has previously held workforce development leadership positions at the state and national levels, including as Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development for the NC Community College System where he fostered collaborative programs with North Carolina’s biotechnology and information technology industries. He also has previously served as the Director of the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Employment and Training where he worked closely with the state’s Workforce Development Boards and provided state oversight of job training programs for disadvantaged individuals and those affected by plant closings. At the national level, he served as the Manager of Workforce Programs for the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he championed workforce development initiatives through the national network of manufacturing extension centers. Also while in Washington, D.C., he was a policy specialist with the U.S. Department of Labor where he authored the national report, Integrating Technology with Workers in the New American Workplace, and was a recipient of the Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Award.

Dr. Ralls holds a Bachelor of Science degree with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Maryland. His research focused on technology implementation, workforce training and issues impacting older workers. He also holds an appointment as an Adjunct Full Professor in the College of Education at NC State University.

Dr. Jack Scott began his term as the 14th Chancellor of the California Community Colleges on January 1, 2009. A former state legislator and community college administrator, Dr. Scott has demonstrated a deep commitment to the California Community Colleges and the opportunities they offer to millions of Californians each year.

A member of the California Legislature from 1996 to 2008, Dr. Scott served as Chair of the Senate Committee on Education and the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education. He authored 146 bills in the Assembly and Senate that were signed into law, including several key bills important to the community colleges. Dr. Scott was named Legislator of the Year by many organizations, including the California Federation of Teachers, Association of California Community College Administrators, and California State University.

Prior to being elected to the Legislature, Dr. Scott was President of Pasadena City College (1987–95). The hallmark of Dr. Scott’s presidency was the launch and completion of a $100 million master plan to meet the college’s needs into the 21st century. Dr. Scott also served as President of Cypress College (1978–87), Dean of Instruction at Orange Coast College (1973–78), and as a teacher and administrator at Pepperdine University (1963–73).

Dr. Scott has been honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges in 2008 and California Community Colleges in 2006, and in 1993 he received the Harry Buttimer Award, given annually to two distinguished administrators in the California Community Colleges. He was named the Alumnus of the Year at Claremont Graduate University in 2000 and at Abilene Christian University in 2003. In 1991, Dr. Scott received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University.

Dr. Scott is a past president of the Association of California Community College Administrators and the former chair of the Accrediting Commission of Western Association of Schools and Colleges. He is a Distinguished Professor of Higher Education at Pepperdine University and is the first person to be honored as President Emeritus of Pasadena City College.

Born and raised in Sweetwater, Texas, Dr. Scott holds a bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University, a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in American history from Claremont Graduate University.