The El Camino Community College District Board of Trustees named Dr. Brenda Thames the new superintendent/president during its regular meeting on May 17. The announcement is the result of a monthslong, nationwide presidential candidate search that narrowed the list of candidates down to four finalists who participated in separate public forums via Zoom in late April.
Dr. Thames will officially begin her new position on July 1, 2021, bringing more than 23 years of experience in instruction, student services, and administration in California Community Colleges to El Camino. Dr. Thames presently serves as the president of West Hills College Coalinga and holds a bachelor's degree with a double major in sociology and social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley; master's degrees in social work and public administration from the University of Southern California; and a doctorate in education from Oregon State University. She completed the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management as well as fellowships with the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and the UC Davis School of Education Center for Community College Leadership and Research. She has served in a broad spectrum of positions, including adjunct faculty, tenured faculty, faculty coordinator, department chair, program director, dean, vice president of student services, and vice president of instruction.
Current Superintendent/President of El Camino College Dena P. Maloney, Ed.D., will retire when her current contract ends at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year in June. President Maloney was selected as El Camino College's sixth Superintendent/President by the Board of Trustees in October 2015 and began her tenure in February 2016.