Montgomery College President Dr. DeRionne P. Pollard Named 2015 Emerging Leader by American Association of Community Colleges

-- Award Recognizes CEOs Who Have Developed Exemplary Systems of Leadership and Professional Development. 

Montgomery College President Dr. DeRionne P. Pollard has been honored with the Emerging Leader Award by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Pollard was recognized for the development of a new mission, a bold strategic plan, the creation of innovative partnerships, and a new academic structure. The award was presented on April 20 as part of the 95th AACC convention program in San Antonio.

“I am honored and humbled to have received this award from AACC. This recognition is truly for the many dedicated faculty and staff at Montgomery College who work very hard every day to make a difference in students’ lives,” Pollard said.

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Since her 2010 inauguration as president of Montgomery College, Dr. Pollard has spearheaded a new mission and Montgomery College 2020, the institution’s strategic plan. Other priorities have included developing partnerships with community organizations and internationally recognized corporations. These include Holy Cross Health, which opened a new hospital at the Hercules Pinkney Life Sciences Park on the College’s Germantown Campus this past year; partnering with Montgomery County Public Schools and the Universities at Shady Grove in the creation of Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES), a support program designed to help students transition from high school to college completion.

Dr. Pollard is a proud graduate of Leadership Montgomery, and was named its Outstanding Leader for 2013. Other awards and honors include Washingtonian Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women; the Daily Record’s Influential Marylander; and Washington Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader Award.

Dr. Pollard formerly served as president of Las Positas College in Livermore, California. Her community college career began at College of Lake County (Ill.) as a faculty member in English. She received her PhD in educational leadership and policy studies in higher education from Loyola University Chicago and her MA and BA in English from Iowa State University.

Winners of the AACC awards were selected by a committee of the AACC Board of Directors. The AACC  represents and advocates for nearly 1,200 associate-degree granting institutions enrolling more than 13 million students—almost half of all U.S. undergraduates.

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Montgomery College is a public, open admissions community college with campuses in Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring, plus workforce development/continuing education centers and off-site programs throughout Montgomery County, Md. The College serves nearly 60,000 students a year, through both credit and noncredit programs, in more than 130 areas of study.

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