The First Woman President of Portland Community College in Oregon

Adrien Bennings was selected from a pool of four finalists as the next president of Portland Community College in Oregon. When she takes office in July, she will be the first woman to lead the college.

Portland Community College enrolls nearly 23,000 students, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 58 percent of the student body.

Dr. Bennings has been serving as president at Kellogg Community College, one of 28 community colleges in the state of Michigan. Earlier, she was the vice president of administration and finance and chief financial officer at Clovis Community College in New Mexico. Before that, she served as regional director of small business development at Texas Tech University.

Dr. Bennings holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural development from Texas A&M University. She earned an MBA with a human resources concentration from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas,  and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Texas Tech University.