By Daily Press staff
One of Santa Monica College’s top administrators is outstanding. Or so says the Community College Business Officers Organization. Tom Donner, J.D., Santa Monica College’s executive vice president of business and administration, has been named the national “Outstanding Chief Business Officer of the Year” by the Community College Business Officers Organization.
The award comes less than a month after Donner had been named winner in CCBO’s Region 2, which is California. CCBO represents business operations of community colleges in the U.S. and Canada.
Donner was selected from the 17 regional winners and was named Nov. 17 at the organization’s annual conference in Charleston, S.C.
Donner has been the chief business officer at SMC since 1976. He chartered the college’s fiscal plan through the aftermath of Proposition 13 tax reform and helped develop a strong international student recruitment program to supplement state funding.
He served as interim president of SMC from October 1994 to July 1995. He formed and led a creative team to tackle the rebuilding of permanent facilities damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, laying the groundwork for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding of the science, library and business buildings and other reconstruction projects.
He also negotiated the establishment of satellite sites for the college at Santa Monica Airport and several other locations throughout Santa Monica.
Donner received a bachelor of science in finance and his MBA from California State University, Long Beach. He holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern University and is an active member of the California State Bar. Get kids off their duffs this holiday season
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 24, 2004. Read the original PDF.