Greg Pereira, vice president of student affairs at Rio Salado College in Arizona, has been chosen by the Central Oregon Community College board to serve as COCC’s seventh president, after Laurie Chesley retires at the end of June. Chesley has served as the president since 2019.

“I am incredibly honored and excited to join COCC as its next president,” said Pereira in a press release. “As an Oregonian, I have long admired COCC’s reputation for excellence in education and workforce training. I look forward to working alongside faculty, staff, students and community partners to build on the college’s strong foundation and ensure it continues to serve the evolving needs of Central Oregon.”

Pereira holds a doctorate in education, a master of arts in organizational leadership and a bachelor of arts in communications studies. As an educational leader, he has focused on workforce development and student success initiatives, both important priorities at COCC.

Board chair Laura Craska Cooper thanked everyone for their efforts during the presidential search.

“(Everyone) giving up time to not only meet the candidates and evaluate them thoroughly but also to come and meet with us and give feedback, and it was really thoughtful feedback,” said Craska Cooper during the board’s Wednesday meeting. “It really helped us to have a vision of where everyone in the college is going. It wasn’t just good in helping to select a president. It was helpful to us to understand on a sort of deeper level the state of the various groups of the college.”

Craska Cooper said the board was impressed by Pereira’s own path into education.

“The board was also impressed by his personal journey – having grown up in a low-income family, he saw firsthand how community colleges transform lives. Dr. Pereira’s own parents both built careers through community college education and as a result, he understands at a personal level the challenges faced by many of our students,” she said in a press release.

Pereira will start his new role in July.