By Kristin Fabos, Cabrillo College Spokeswoman
At a special meeting held Monday night, the Los Rios Community College District Board of Trustees appointed Cabrillo College president Dr. Brian King as its new chancellor.
The Los Rios Community College District is the second largest in the state, and enrolls more than 80,000 students at its four colleges, which include: American River, Consumnes River, Folsom Lake, and Sacramento City.
Dr. King has served as the president and superintendent of Cabrillo College since 2004. During his tenure, he presided over several faculty and administration changes as well as navigated consecutive years of state budget cuts, while ensuring that Cabrillo College continued to be successful at delivering its mission of providing high quality education and career training to the students of Santa Cruz County.
“Cabrillo has been fortunate to have Brian’s leadership for the past nine years, almost twice the average term for a community college president,” said Alan Smith, chair of the Cabrillo College Governing Board. “As one of the leading community colleges in the state, Cabrillo's outstanding staff, faculty and administration provided fertile ground for Brian’s successes as Cabrillo president and his selection as Chancellor at Los Rios. Brian has been a leader and catalyst for student success at Cabrillo and everyone at Cabrillo wishes him the very best.”
During his tenure at Cabrillo, Dr. King led the successful implementation of two bond measures that resulted in the construction of several new instructional facilities on campus.
In addition, he worked closely with Cabrillo College Foundation leadership to secure more than $20 million in funding from local and national donors for instructional programs and student scholarships. He also led several student success initiatives, including the Santa Cruz County College Commitment (S4C), a countywide collaborative formed with the goal of increasing the college readiness and success of every student in Santa Cruz County.
Since it’s founding in 1959, Cabrillo College has proudly upheld a tradition of close integration with the Santa Cruz County community. At the local level, Dr. King is president-elect of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, is a board member of the Dominican Hospital, is a member of the Santa Cruz Business Council, and is a member of Santa Cruz Rotary.
“I have been proud to serve as Cabrillo’s president for the past nine years,” said King. “Cabrillo is an excellent community college with a strong reputation throughout the state, and the accomplishments we achieved together certainly helped me to secure the chancellor position at Los Rios. I will miss the wonderful people at Cabrillo College and within the Santa Cruz County community, but will look forward to working with them on statewide initiatives.”
Dr. King is expected to assume his new role of chancellor on February 1. Over the next several months, the Cabrillo College Governing Board will engage in a national search process to identify and name Cabrillo’s next president.
About Cabrillo College
Cabrillo College is a leading California community college serving Santa Cruz County with locations in Aptos, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. It is ranked #1 in transfers to UC Santa Cruz. Founded in 1959, the college offers over 100 academic and career technical education programs that serve multiple educational goals such as A.A. and A.S. degrees, certificates of achievement, skills certificates, transfer to 4-year institutions or for lifelong learning and personal enrichment. Cabrillo College is a dynamic, diverse and responsive educational community that is dedicated to helping all students achieve their academic, career, and personal development goals.
