Janie C. Park, the former president of Chadron State College in Nebraska, died on June 27 in Billings, Montana. She was 76 years old.
A native of El Paso, Texas, Dr. Park earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. While raising a family she worked as a nurse. When her children were older, she returned to higher education, earning a master’s degree in immunology and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.
Dr. Park served as associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts at the Florida Institute of Technology for three years. She then moved to Montana, where she was a professor of biological sciences and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Montana State University-Billings for three years before being named provost and academic vice chancellor at Montana State University-Billings. She served as provost for nine years.
In 2005, Dr. Park became the first woman to lead Chadron State College in Nebraska. The college in the northwestern corner of the state, today enrolls about 2,250 students and women make up 60 percent of the student body. Dr. Park served as president until her retirement in 2012.
“The past seven years have been, without exception, an honor and a privilege to serve this great college, and I’ll miss you all more than I can express,” Dr. Park said in announcing her retirement.