DeRionne P. Pollard, president of Nevada State University, has announced she is stepping down from her role to lead the American Association of Community Colleges, effective September 5. She will be the organization’s first woman president in its 105-year history.
In 2021, Dr. Pollard was named the eighth president of Nevada State University, making her the first Black woman to permanently lead any institution within the Nevada System of Higher Education. Over the past four years, Nevada State University has increased its student success rates, secured institutional accreditation, expanded student services, created new external partnerships, and redesigned internal processes. Additionally, Dr. Pollard oversaw the transition of Nevada State from a college to a university, as well as the the implementation of an athletics program.
Before joining the Nevada State University administration, Dr. Pollard spent nine years as president of Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. Earlier, she was president of Las Positas College in Livermore, California.
“I am deeply honored to serve as the next president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges,” said Dr. Pollard. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead a national organization whose mission is urgently relevant to the future of our nation. Community colleges are where tomorrow is born — in classrooms filled with discoverers, doers, and difference-makers — and they are the solution to prepare essential workforce, close entry gaps, and fuel civic renewal in every corner of this country. This role is more than leadership: it is a charge to reimagine what is possible when access, affordability, and excellence converge.”
Dr. Pollard holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in English from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies in higher education from Loyola University Chicago.