Following several months of interim service, Carmen Simone has been named the permanent president of Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, North Dakota. The college enrolls about 1,800 students, 61 percent of whom are women.
Dr. Simone has over 30 years of experience in higher education, primarily at two-year colleges. Before beginning her interim presidency in May 2025, Dr. Simone spent three years as dean and chief executive officer of Dakota College at Bottineau. She is a past president of both Western Nebraska Community College and Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado and has held vice presidential roles with the University of South Dakota’s Community College for Sioux Falls and Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho. Her career in academia began at Casper College in Wyoming, where she taught chemistry for over a decade before assuming the role of vice president for academic affairs.
A graduate of the University of North Dakota, Dr. Simone earned her doctorate in chemistry from Colorado State University.