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Due to unforeseen circumstances, all members of the Pima Community College (PCC) Governing Board will be attending the Board's March 8, 2023, Regular Meeting remotely. At the discretion of the Board Chair, PCC administrators and others making scheduled presentations to the Board may also be appearing remotely. Tonight's meeting will otherwise be conducted in a hybrid format as previously noticed, and members of the public may still attend in person at PCC's District Office, room C-105. During the "Public Comment-Call to the Audience" portion of tonight's meeting, public comments may still be made either remotely or in person. PCC staff will be on-site in room C-105 to assist members of the public attending in person who wish to address comments to the Board.
Lee Lambert and student at PCC graduation taking selfie

Biography - Lee D. Lambert

Personal

Lee Lambert is a visionary leader who has served as a senior-level executive for over 20 years at three community college districts, including his current position as Chancellor and CEO of Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ. He is currently leading the Pima District’s transformation into Centers of Excellence in applied technology, health care, hospitality, information technology and cybersecurity, public safety, and the arts.

After serving as President of Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Washington, outside Seattle, Chancellor Lambert was selected as CEO to help lead Pima Community College out of an academic probation sanction imposed by the Higher Learning Commission. Working collaboratively with faculty, staff and community and business leaders, he not only helped return Pima to good standing, but Pima was named a top 150 Community College by the Aspen Institute, earned a prestigious Bellwether Award for Developmental Education programs and was named the 5th Best Employer To Work For in Arizona.

Throughout his career, Chancellor Lambert has been an innovator, connecting industry and community colleges to revitalize communities through educational opportunity in an age marked by rapid technological and demographic change.

Chancellor Lambert was born in Seoul, South Korea. His late father, who was of mixed African American heritage, and his mother, who is South Korean, and his family were frequent targets of racism and discrimination in South Korea and the U.S. That experience drove Chancellor Lambert to champion equality and opportunity for all and his passion for leading community colleges.

Chancellor Lambert grew up on three continents. He received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and a Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University School of Law.

He is a U.S. Army Veteran and likes people to call him Lee.

Organizational Memberships/Professional Affiliations Active Roles (Region & Description)

Local

  • Arizona 612th Air Communications Squadron, Honorary Commander
  • Citizen Diplomacy Alliance – Board member
  • Cradle to Career Leadership Council – C2C, member
  • Pima Association of Governments – PAG, Economic Vitality Advisory Committee, Member
  • Pima Community College Foundation – Board member, Ex-Officio
  • Rotary Club of Tucson – Honorary member
  • Southern Arizona Leadership Council – SALC, Board member
  • Sun Corridor, Inc., - Board of Directors at Chairman’s Circle level, member – Ex. Committee Member, Recovery & Response Planning Committee, member, Workforce Development and Training Subcommittee, Chair
  • The Breakfast Club of Tucson – Member
  • Tucson Airport Authority – TAA, Governance Council, member
  • United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona – Board of Directors, member, Immediate Past Chair
  • University of Arizona STEM Learning Center – Board of Advisors, member
  • VIP Breakfast of Tucson, member

State

  • Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Board member
  • Arizona Commerce Authority, Board Member
  • Arizona Community College Coordinating Council – AC4, member, CC Marketing & Social Media Committee, member
  • Arizona Complete Count Committee (ACCC) Higher Education Subcommittee, member
  • Arizona Hispanic Serving Institution Presidents Consortium, member
  • Arizona Manufacturing Partnership – AMP, Executive Council, member
  • Arizona State University – ASU, Community Advisory Board, member
  • Arizona Team Reskilling and Recovery Network, member

National

  • American Association of Comm. Colleges – AACC, Task Force on Comm. Colleges Apprenticeships, member
  • American Council on Education – ACE, member
  • Association of Community College Trustees – ACCT, Advisory Committee of Presidents, member
  • Community College Workforce Consortium/Jobs for the Future – Executive Committee, member
  • Council for Advancement and Support of Education – CASE, member
  • Higher Education Research & Development Institute – HERDI, Advisory Board member
  • Higher Education Commission – HLC, Nominating Committee, member
  • Hispanic Association of Community College and Universities – HACU, Directorship Committee, member
  • Institute for Citizens & Scholars – Woodrow Wilson Higher Education Policy Fellowship, member
  • League of Innovation, member
  • National Assoc. of Manufacturers/Manufacturing Institute Education Council – Member & founding member
  • National Asian Pacific Islanders Council – NAPIC, President
  • National Association of Workforce Boards – Board member
  • National Chair Academy – International Advisory Board, member
  • National Community College Hispanic Council – NCCHC, member
  • National Coalition of Certification Centers – NC3, Board member & Founding member
  • National Governors Association Reskilling & Recovery Network – Member
  • National Laboratory Education Transformation – NLET, Board of Advisors, Senior Advisor
  • National Society of Collegiate Scholars – Honorary Board member
  • Sustainability Education & Economic Development Center – SEED, President’s Advisory Cabinet
  • Southwest Transportation Workforce Center – SWTWC, Steering Committee member
  • Southwest Regional Transportation Center – Steering Committee, Member
  • Unmudl – Chair
  • Viridis Learning, Inc. Advisory Council, member
  • Workforce Strategy Center – Board of Directors, Member

Previous higher education experience

  • June 2006-June 2013: President, Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, Wash., outside Seattle. Also served as Interim President at Shoreline
  • January 2005-June 2006: Vice President for Human Resources and Legal Affairs, Shoreline Community College.
  • Previous: Vice President for Human Resources and Legal Affairs at Centralia College in Centralia, Wash., and served as Special Assistant to the President for Civil Rights and Legal Affairs at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

Publications

  • Author, chapter in “Opportunity Knocking: How Community College Presidents Can Lead a New Era of Advancement,” 2015
  • Author, chapter in “Overcoming Educational Racism in the Community College: Creating Pathways to Success for Minority and Impoverished Student Populations,” 2016
  • Author, “One Chancellor’s Comprehensive Approach to Agent-Based Recruiting,” National Association for College Admissions Counseling, 2018
  • Author, “Seoul Reflections: Yesterday and Today, published in the anthology, “Mixed Korean: Our Stories,” 2018

Education/professional

  • Juris Doctor degree, Seattle University School of Law
  • Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash. 
  • Member, Washington State Bar Association
  • Instructor on Law, Civil Rights and Social Justice, and Employment Law at The Evergreen State College.
  • Thurston County (Wash.) Legal Clinic, former member

Selected Honors and Recognitions

National

  • Forbes, Pima Community College Ranked 5th Best Employer in Arizona, 2022

Veterans

  • Arizona chapter, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), award for service to PCC’s student-veterans, May 2015
  • Named Patriotic Employer for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in the National Guard and Reserve of the U.S., May 2015 and November 2016
  • Honorary Mission Support Group Commander for the Arizona Air National Guard 162nd Wing, 2017

Workforce/Economic Development

  • Association of Community College Trustees CEO of the Year, 2017
  • Association of Community College Trustees, Pacific Region CEO of the Year, 2009
  • Pima Association of Governments, Thomas L. Swanson Leadership Award, March 2019
  • Advocate of the Year (with others), Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2017
  • NC3 Founders Award for Vision and Leadership, July 2014

Diversity/Inclusion

  • League of United Latin American Citizens(LULAC) National Convention Humanitarian Award, 2018
  • La Estrella Award from Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for exceptional service to the Hispanic community in the border region of Southern Arizona or Northern Mexico, 2017
  • National Asian Pacific Islanders Council Leadership Recognition, April 2019
  • LULAC Council 1057 annual Educators Awards & Scholarship Banquet recognition, April 2015; LULAC/FBI Community Service Gold Award, September 2014 and September 2016
  • Pan Asian Community Alliance in Tucson, Man of the Year, February 2015
  • Victoria Foundation, Edith Auslander Outstanding Support of Hispanic Issues in Higher Education recognition, September 2016

Global Education

  • At the invitations of the governments of China and India, presented to educators about the critical role community colleges can play in educating and training the workforce of the 21st century.
  • Honorary Professor, Wuhan Railway Vocational College of Technology, Wuhan, China
  • Honorary Professor, Wuhan Institute of Shipbuilding Technology, Wuhan, China
  • Co-presenter. “How Industry 4.0 & Global Education will Shape the Future of Work: A Case Study from Arizona”; panelist, “Tertiary Education International Policy Forum,” World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics global conference, 2018
  • Keynote presenter for the AACC delegation at the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics World Congress in Beijing, October 2014

Other state of Washington memberships/honors

  • Dale Turner Family YMCA (Shoreline/South Snohomish County), board member
  • Forward Shoreline, former board member
  • Human Resources Management Commission, former chair
  • Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges, member
  • Washington Campus Compact, executive board of directors
  • Letter of Commendation from former Gov. Gary Locke, 2007

 

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