Local community leaders Denny Dobbs and Jerry Silvio have been named part of the search committee for the next president of Georgia Piedmont Technical College.
The 13-person search committee will choose three finalists for president, while the ultimate decision will be made by Ron Jackson, commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia commissioner.
Dobbs is the owner of Dobbs Environmental and a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, while Silvio is president and CEO of Silvio Development Company and a Georgia Piedmont Technical board member.
The committee is comprised of candidates from DeKalb, Morgan, Newton and Rockdale counties - the area served by Georgia Piedmont Technical.
The next president will replace Robin Hoffman, who retired last July. Larry Teems, the college's executive vice president, is serving as the acting president.
"The committee represents a broad spectrum of the community that GPTC serves, with the members having close ties to the college and deep knowledge of the long history of the institution," according to the school's press release.
The committee will be chaired by DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams, who is also a member of the college's board of directors.
Other members include Val Bates, president of KHAFRA Engineering Consultants and chair of the GPTC Foundation; Dr. Thomas Coleman, retired state executive and former commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice; Sandra Font, Spanish language services operations manager at CredAbility and chair of the GPTC Board of Directors; Bob Hughes, president of the Madison-Morgan Chamber of Commerce; Cheryl McAfee, chair and CEO of McAfee 3 Architects; Conyers Mayor Randal S. Mills; Dr. Flynn Nance, president of the Honey Creek Veterinary Hospital in Conyers; Milton "Buddy" Nix, retired chair of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles and the former director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; Dr. Eugene P. Walker, chair of the DeKalb County Board of Education and a former GPTC Foundation member; and Ellen Warren, chair of the Morgan County Board of Commissioners and a GPTC board member.
"I look forward to working with the committee to find an exceptional leader with a strong passion for technical and adult education and an even stronger commitment to helping every student find success in college and the workforce," Jackson said in a press release.
The committee will begin interviewing applicants for the job in the next few weeks. The finalists it selects will be interviewed by the senior management staff at the Technical College System of Georgia headquarters in Atlanta and then by Jackson. The commissioner's final choice is subject to approval by the state board that oversees the technical college system, whose members are appointed by the governor.
Last year, GPTC enrolled 8,061 students in diploma, degree and certificate classes. Along with the main campus in Clarkston, the college has another campus in Covington, education centers in Conyers and Doraville, an adult education facility in Clarkston and a commercial truck driving training facility in Lithonia.
