The board of trustees of Green River College in Auburn, Washington, has chosen Suzanne Johnson as the college’s next president. She will take office on July 1.
The college located west of Tacoma enrolls more than 8,100 students. Women make up 50 percent of the student body.
Suzanne Johnson has been serving as vice president for academic affairs at Suffolk County Community College in New York. Earlier she was dean of Dowling College in Oakdale, New York.
Dr. Johnson is a graduate of Ithaca College in New York, where she majored in psychology. She earned a master’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology at Stony Brook University, a campus of the State University of New York System.
Scott Morgan has been serving as interim president of the college since last July after the resignation of Eileen Ely. She had been president of the college since 2010. In 2013, Dr. Ely was the subject of a no-confidence resolution passed by the faculty. In 2016, instructors at the college filed charges of unfair labor practices against the college’s administration and went on strike after it was announced that 11 programs or courses would be eliminated to close a budget shortfall. Student protests ensued.