Shari Olson has been appointed president of Northland Community & Technical College, effective immediately. The community college, located in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, enrolls nearly 2,500 students, 58 percent of whom are women.
Dr. Olson has led Northland Community & Technical College on an interim basis for the past year. She had previously worked for the institution from 1995 to 2007 in several capacities, including vice president of planning and administrative services, vice president of outreach and planning, and vice president of outreach and technology.
Prior to her interim appointment, Dr. Olson had most recently served as president of the Maricopa County Community College District at South Mountain Community College in Arizona from 2011 to 2022. Earlier, she had stints as interim president of Anoka Technical College in Minnesota and president of Eastern Wyoming College.
Dr. Olson received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from North Dakota State University and her doctorate from the University of North Dakota.
Ritu Raju has been named president of South Central College in North Makato, Minnesota. The institution enrolls over 2,600 students, 57 percent of whom are women. Dr. Raju will begin her presidency on July 1.
With two decades of academic and administrative experience in higher education, Dr. Raju currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Gateway Technical College in Wisconsin. Previously, she was vice president of academic affairs at Tarrant County College Northeast Campus in Texas. Before that role, she spent over a decade on the faculty at Houston Community College. While there, she held several leadership positions, including dean of advanced manufacturing and division chair for speech, communication, and sign language.
Dr. Raju holds bachelor’s degrees from Bangalore University in India and the University of Houston-Downtown. She earned a master’s degree from Sam Houston State University and a doctorate from Texas Tech University.