PCC names four finalists for president

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 18, 2022

Portland Community College’s presidential search effort has produced a pool of four finalists to replace the retiring President Mark Mitsui.

Candidates under consideration are Adrien Bennings, Naydeen Gonzalez-De Jesus, Craig Herndon and Shouan Pan. They were selected from a group of eight semi-finalists who had been winnowed down from more than 40 applicants from around the country.

In-person finalist visits are set for Monday through Thursday, March 21 to 24. Each candidate will participate in two open forums as part of their visits, to enable the college community and the general public to meet them and ask questions. Forums will be in person and simultaneously live-streamed.

Forums will take place from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. in the Event Center, Building 9, Rock Creek Campus, 17705 N.W. Springville Road and from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Auditorium, Terrell Hall at the Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth St.

To attend virtually, visit the Presidential Search webpage, or on the college’s .

The next president will be PCC’s eighth since the college was founded in 1961. The announcement of PCC’s next president is anticipated to take place in April.

Dates and candidates

Monday, March 21: Naydeen Gonzalez-De Jesus

Gonzalez-De Jesus is the executive vice president of student success at Milwaukee Area Technical College in Wisconsin and a leadership fellow of the National Community College Hispanic Council. Gonzalez-De Jesus holds a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from Northcentral University in Arizona, a master’s degree in student personnel services from Rowan University in New Jersey, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The Pennsylvania State University.

Tuesday, March 22: Craig Herndon

Herndon has more than 20 years of professional experience in higher education, with roles in student support, academic affairs and extensive community college leadership for workforce development, advocacy and administration. Since 2018, he has served as the senior vice chancellor for administration, finance and technology for the Virginia Community College System, which fulfills the education and workforce development needs for nearly 250,000 people at 23 community colleges on 40 campuses throughout the commonwealth.

Wednesday, March 23: Adrien Bennings

Bennings is the president of Kellogg Community College, one of 28 community colleges in the state of Michigan. She oversees a multi-campus institution within a three-county service area. Bennings’ educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in agricultural development from Texas A&M University; a master’s degree in business administration with an human resources concentration from Wayland Baptist University; and a doctorate in philosophy in higher education administration from Texas Tech University.

Thursday, March 24: Shouan Pan

Pan has served as chancellor of Seattle Colleges since 2016 and has 30 years of experience. Previous administrative roles include president of Mesa Community College; provost of Broward College-South Campus (Pembroke Pines, Florida); executive dean of instruction and student services at Florida State College in Jacksonville; dean of student life at the Community College of Philadelphia; and assistant professor of educational psychology and recruitment and retention administrator at Northern Arizona University.