RIVERSIDE, Calif.- The Board of Trustees of Riverside Community College District (RCCD) have announced the appointment of Wolde-Ab Isaac, Ph.D., as the new president of Riverside City College. Isaac has served as the interim president of the College since August 2013.
In his recommendation to the Board, RCCD Chancellor Michael L. Burke called Isaac a principled leader.
“I am very pleased to have Dr. Isaac at the helm of RCC,” Burke said. “I have the utmost trust in him.”
Board President Virginia Blumenthal described Isaac as a “strong academic leader, one whom the Board believes is the right leader for RCC as the college approaches its centennial celebration year in 2016.”
Before accepting the interim president assignment, Isaac served as vice president of Academic Affairs at RCC for one-and-a-half years, preceded by a six-year term as dean of Health Science Programs at Moreno Valley College (MVC). Under his leadership, MVC developed and expanded programs in Dental Hygiene, Physician Assistant, Emergency Medical Sssisting and Dental Assisting.
“It is with an extraordinary sense of humility and honor that I accept this appointment to serve as the eleventh president of Riverside City College,” Isaac told Board members and the audience. “I pledge that I will do all I can to lead this nearly century old institution on a successful path as it transitions into its next millennium of service and greatness.”
Isaac is a Fulbright Scholar who graduated from Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie University before pursuing graduate studies at the University of Michigan where he earned a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry. After postdoctoral studies and work at the University of Uppsala, he served as a government secretary of Human Resources and as president of the University of Asmara in his home nation of Eritrea until coming to the United States and Moreno Valley College. Isaac is a noted scholar and author of 25 scientific papers published in professional journals.