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LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGES
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May 29, 2007 Contact: Lynn Winter Gross
213-891-2423
818-205-8614
Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees
Names Dr. Marshall Drummond as Chancellor
Former California Community Colleges Chancellor Returns to Serve L.A.
District
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Dr. Marshall (Mark)Drummond, Chancellor of the California Community Colleges since 2004, is returning to Los Angeles to serve as Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), a position he held for four-and-a-half years before moving to Sacramento. Following an extensive national search, the LACCD Board of Trustees made the public announcement ofDrummond’s appointment at their May 30, 2007 meeting.“Like L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who returned to Los Angeles after working in Sacramento, I see my return as a step forward,” Drummond said. “I feel I made great strides in Sacramento, and now I want to move our Los Angeles community colleges ahead.”
Drummond, 65, will replace Darroch “Rocky” Young, who will retire as LACCD Chancellor effective August 2007. Prior to his appointment as Chancellor, Young was Vice Chancellor at the District after serving for 5 years as president of Pierce College, one of the nine colleges in the LACCD District.
“Rocky and his team have advanced the LACCD colleges to new levels in the area of workforce development,” Drummond said. “We need well-trained workers to meet the needs of California and we need to get more youth into the training pipeline toward those jobs.”
During his stay in the Sacramento office, Drummond passionately articulated
the important mission of community colleges to elected leaders and officials
and established a national lobbyist presence in Washington, D.C. His strong
relationship with the Schwarzenegger administration led to a significant
increase in funding for career and technical education and he spearheaded
the first-ever strategic plan for the California community college system.
“Mark’s experience and exposure to statewide issues will undoubtedly benefit
our district,” Board of Trustee President Georgia Mercer said. “His contacts
with the governor’s office and knowledge of their major emphasis on
workforce development are a real plus. We are looking forward to working
with Mark and expanding college programs to meet the workforce needs of our
community.”
“Chancellor Drummond will build upon and continue the programs initiated by
Chancellor Young,” Mercer added. “Through Rocky’s innovative programs, the
District made tremendous advances. We will miss Chancellor Young and wish
him well in his retirement.”
Rocky created and implemented the first comprehensive district wide
strategic plan; launched a ground breaking, year-long leadership training
program for faculty and staff; instituted time- and cost-saving ways to
advance the District’s construction programs while maintaining the emphasis
on sustainability; dramatically improved the financial condition of the
district; initiated a number of innovative programs; increased the
enrollments of the district through the establishment of a district
marketing plan and was a strong, and effective advocate for community
colleges on the state level.
The LACCD is in the midst of a $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA bond
construction program, which includes more than 40 new or renovated campus
buildings, one of the largest "green" building projects in the nation. The
LACCD is one of the largest community college district in the nation, with
nine colleges serving more than 130,000 full time students.