President Search 2022

President Search Finalists Open Forums

Nov. 14-16 at 3-4 p.m. in the Hearthside Lounge (2313)

Our campus community was invited to meet our Foothill College president finalists in person during open forums on the dates listed with each candidate.  You may read biographies below.

Note: The forums were recorded and videos posted here — after all the forums were completed — for those who could not attend. Feedback forms were also provide for comments and closed on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022 at 5 p.m.

Thank you to all who participated in the search process.

If you have any questions, please contact Paula Norsell at norsellpaula@fhda.edu.

 

Dr. Kristina Whalen
Monday, Nov. 14 at 3 p.m.

Dr. Kristina Whalen is the Vice President of Academic Services at Las Positas College in Livermore, California. As an Aspen Rising President’s fellow, Kristina is known as an equity-advancing educational leader who works with a sense of urgency to support equitable student outcomes and living wage employment. She leads equity efforts as a member of the steering committee for the college’s implementation of the guided pathways framework and provides leadership for developing curricula with cultural competence. Alongside her executive responsibilities and work as the college’s Accreditation Liaison Officer, Dr. Whalen is a contributing member of the President’s Advisory Council on Race and Equity.

Dr. Whalen has worked locally, regionally, and throughout California to foster leadership development that can manage and guide transformational initiatives. Currently, she is the Vice President of the Chief Instructional Officers for California Community Colleges. Kristina’s years of argumentation and debate training around issues of social justice and equity have led to an affinity for data literacy and storytelling in her current roles.

Before serving as the chief instructional officer at Las Positas College, Dr. Whalen served as a department chair, dean, and associate vice chancellor at City College of San Francisco. She earned a doctoral and master’s degree in speech communication from Florida State University and her bachelor’s degree in socio-political communication from Missouri State University.

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Dr. Gregory Anderson
Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m.

Gregory Anderson is a student-centered and equity-driven leader with 30 years of higher education experience. Most recently, he served as president of Riverside City College, the largest college in the Riverside Community College District, serving 30,000 students annually.  Previous roles in higher education include vice president, dean, strategic advisor, instructor, and director in California, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Lesotho, and Venezuela.

At USC, Dr. Anderson earned a doctorate in higher education administration. He also holds a master’s degree in teaching from the School for International Training in Vermont, and bachelor’s degrees in speech communication and English (linguistics) from the University of Wisconsin. 

His service in California’s community college system began at De Anza College, where he gained tenure and served as Academic Senate President before becoming an academic dean.  In these and other roles in California and around the world, Dr. Anderson has developed skills in teaching, developing curricula, enrollment management strategies, training faculty and administrators, leading capital projects, fiscal management, fundraising, and legislative advocacy. 

Driven by a belief in the transformative power of education and an understanding of the role of a college in its community, Dr. Anderson worked with leaders among RCC’s faculty, classified professional staff, and administrators to bring a singular focus on equitable access to excellence.  

Of note, the college:

• increased the diversity of its full-time faculty,
• improved student achievement rates,
• grew external funding,
• instituted guided pathways,
• and broadened community engagement.

Additionally, the college launched several multi-equity, student-centered initiatives, including:  LBGTQ+ Association for Student Success and Equity, the Association of Latinx for Student Success, and one of the nation’s first Caring Campus initiatives, supporting inclusive, nurturing, and growth-oriented employee development.  

Currently residing in Southern California, Dr. Anderson and his wife Yuki are raising two bilingual children. 

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Dr. Lisa Cooper Wilkins
Wednesday Nov. 16 at 3 p.m.

Dr. Cooper Wilkins is the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at City College of San Francisco. From 2015- 2020, she was the Assistant Superintendent / Vice President of Student Services at San Joaquin Delta College.

At University of the Pacific, she served as the Associate Vice President for Student Life, the Interim Assist Provost for Diversity, Assistant Professor and Director of the Educational Resource Center for the Benerd School of Education. She is a culturally competent leader and has spent her career in roles that foster access, equity, inclusion, opportunity, and success for underrepresented and underserved students.

Honors that she has received include the Distinguished Career/Professional Service Award from Delta Kappa Gamma International Society, California in 2020; the Education Champion Award in 2018 from the San Joaquin Pride Center; the NAACP’s Medgar Evers Freedom Fighter Award in 2017; and the Susan B. Anthony Woman of Achievement Award by the San Joaquin County Commission on the Status of Women in 2012.

Dr. Cooper Wilkins completed her doctoral studies at the George Washington University in Higher Education Administration; her dissertation was entitled Disability as Diversity: Assessing the Perceptions of Students with Physical Disabilities Regarding Access and Equal Opportunity in Postsecondary Education. Further she is proud to be an Aspen Presidential Fellow, a Lakin Institute Fellow as well as a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum.

Currently, she serves on the RP Group’s African American Transfer Tipping Point Study Advisory Board and was just recently appointed to serve on the Boards of the Umoja Community Education Foundation as well as the Sofia University Research and Development Foundation. Dr. Cooper Wilkins remains actively engaged in public service with a focus on education including early literacy initiatives as well as scholarship and mentoring programs for high school youth.