By Daily Press staff
Patrick Nichelson has been elected chair and Herb Roney vice chair of the Santa Monica Community College District Board of Trustees for 2002. Their one-year terms began Dec. 3.
Nichelson succeeds Annette Shamey and Roney fills the spot previously held by Nichelson.
This is the third time Nichelson, who has been on the board since 1987, is serving as chair.
A professor and chair of the religious studies department at California State University at Northridge, he teaches courses in world religions, religion and literature, and ethics. He is currently the director of the University Honors Program at CSUN and recently served on the faculty council for CSU Channel Islands (in Camarillo) that helped design the master plan and selected the first permanent faculty for the newest campus of the Cal State system.
Nichelson is the former president of the California Faculty Association, the union that represents approximately 20,000 professors at all 23 campuses of the CSU system.
He is a member of several organizations, including the American Association of University Professors and Santa Monicans for Renters Rights. Nichelson received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and Spanish from St. John's College, a master's in religion at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in social ethics from the University of Southern California.
Roney was elected to the board of trustees in November 1994 after a long career as an SMC administrator and teacher. Re-elected to the board in 1998, he is serving his second time as vice chair and has served once as chair.
A longtime Santa Monica resident and decorated Marine Corps veteran, he has been active in many organizations, including Santa Monica Rotary Club, KCRW Foundation, Santa Monica Airport Commission, and Santa Monica High School Alumni Association Board.
A graduate of Santa Monica High School and SMC, Roney received his bachelor’s degree in education and master’s in administration from California State University, Los Angeles.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 10, 2001. Read the original PDF.