Pierce College hires new president

Pierce College hired a veteran college administrator as its new president, the Woodland Hills community college announced. Dr. Kathleen Burke-Kelly, who has served as vice president of academic affairs at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College since August 2009, will fill assume the post on Aug. 1, according to a press release on Pierce College’s Web site. Burke-Kelly, 56, will be replacing Dr. Joy McCaslin, a longtime administrator at the college who was named interim president in July 2009, according to the release. McCaslin had taken the position to replace the college’s former president, Robert Garber, after he retired in February 2006. “I am deeply committed to the role community colleges play in providing access to quality higher education for diverse populations,” Burke-Kelly said in the release. Before working at Trade-Technical College, Burke-Kelly was vice president of academic affairs at Los Angeles City College from August 2007 to June 2009. She has also been vice president of academic affairs at Los Angeles Mission College and dean of academic affairs at East Los Angeles College, according to the release. “Dr. Burke-Kelly’s 29 years of experience as a community college educator will greatly benefit the more than 22,000 students at Pierce College,” Mona Field, president of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, said in the release. Burke-Kelly earned a doctorate degree of education in institutional management at Pepperdine University. She also has a master’s degree in art from California State University, Northridge, and a bachelor’s degree in studio art from the University of California, Irvine, the release said.