Pasadena City College Announces Four Finalists in Superintendent/President Search

The Pasadena City College Board of Trustees announced on Monday the four finalists in the Superintendent/President search. The announcement comes on the heels of a nationwide search and drawing on input from a broad cross-section of on- and off-campus constituency groups. 

According to Monday’s statement, the four finalists are Pasadena City College Interim Superintendent/President José Gómez, Ph.D.; Carlos Cortez, Ph.D., who most recently served as Chancellor of the San Diego Community College District; Thuy Nguyen, J.D., Partner at Garcia Hernández Sawhney, LLP; and Lena Tran, MBA, Ed.D., President of Columbia College. 

Pending selection by the Board of Trustees, the next Superintendent/President will take the reins as the college celebrates its centennial year in 2024-25. The college has been searching for a new chief executive since Dr. Erika Endrijonas left on July 31 to begin service as Superintendent/President at Santa Barbara City College on August 1.

“These four individuals are each eminently qualified to lead Pasadena City College into its next century,” said Kristine E. Kwong, President of the Board of Trustees. 

“Their backgrounds and experiences speak highly of their ability to build on the college’s strengths and ensure its growth. We are very pleased with the potential for excellence we have witnessed in these candidates. My colleagues on the board and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this search, with a special thanks to the members of the Screening/Application Reading Committee and the Candidate Interview Committee. This process has brought forward much valuable input, and we are glad to have had a thorough dialogue on this vitally important decision.” 

Members of the public and the college community will have an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates this week. 

Each finalist will take part in an open forum with the Pasadena City College community on Wednesday, April 10, in Westerbeck Recital Hall. 

Gómez will be up first at 10 a.m., followed by Tran at 11 a.m. Nguyen will participate in the forum at 11:55 a.m., and Cortez will close at 12:50 p.m.

The audience will have a chance to ask the finalists questions. Representatives from the executive search firm will moderate the event, which will also be live-streamed and recorded. More details are available on the college’s website.

Pasadena City College is home to the Los Angeles Regional Consortium, a labor and education hub for Southern California’s 19 community colleges that coordinates the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars in state workforce development resources.

 Pasadena City College has been recognized as one of the top ten community colleges in the nation for six consecutive years.