Tsang emerges after nationwide search
SMC — Elected officials on Monday announced that Dr. Chui L. Tsang will become the new president of Santa Monica College early next year.
Tsang, who currently serves as president for San José City College, was one of three finalists referred from an SMC search committee and chosen by the board of trustees after a public forum held in November, during which the candidates answered a slew of questions before students, school employees and community members regarding their administrative styles.
The 54-year-old Tsang, a first-generation Californian who was born and raised in China, is expected to take the reins at SMC on Feb. 27, 2006. He will earn an annual salary of $175,000.
“We believe that Dr. Tsang will be an outstanding president, and will help us move ahead in exciting and challenging times for Santa Monica College,” said Carole Currey, the board of trustees chair. “We were particularly impressed with Dr. Tsang’s perspicacity and sense of humor.”
Tsang will succeed Dr. Piedad Robertson, who left the college in January to become president of the Denver-based Education Commission of the States.
According to a biographical profile, Dr. Tsang came to the United States via Hong Kong in 1971 at the age of 19. He received his start in education as a student at Contra Costa Community College in San Pablo. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, Tsang earned his doctorate in linguistics at Stanford University, where he taught for several years.
Resources Development Center in San Francisco, specializing in providing job training to refugees, immigrants and the unemployed. He also served as dean of the School of Applied Science and Technology at City College of San Francisco for five years.
He became president of San José City College, which has an enrollment of more than 10,000 students, back in 1997, remaining at the post for the past nine years.
While at San Jose, Tsang led the college on a $200 million-plus construction boom, funded primarily by voter-approved bonds in 1998 and 2004, that includes a new parking structure, library, tech center, student center and science complex, according to a SMC press release. Under his leadership, a strategic planning model was developed through which the faculty continuously updates the college priorities and academic disciplines to reflect the changing needs of students and shifting economic trends.
In May 2004, Tsang was honored as a “Local Hero” by the Asian Pacific American Heritage for his commitment and contributions to the Bay Area through business, community activism, education and social services.
“We know the entire SMC community and the cities of Santa Monica, Malibu and Los Angeles will welcome Dr. Tsang to the Santa Monica College family,” said Currey on Monday.
The naming of Tsang comes after nearly a year-long search for Robertson’s successor. SMC’s Presidential Search Committee — comprised of SMC employees, students and Santa Monica community members — screened applications and interviewed semi-finalists for the president’s position.
The committee then forwarded to SMC’s Board of Trustees the names of three candidates — Dr. Deborah Blue, vice president of policy and research for the Accrediting Commission for Community & Junior Colleges (ACCJC) in Novato, Calif.; Dr. G. Jeremiah Ryan, president of Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey; and Dr. Tsang — for consideration as finalists for the SMC presidential post.
SMC undertook a national search that included mailings, use of e-mail lists, and advertising in a variety of publications, including the Chronicle of Higher Education, Women in Higher Education, Asian Week, Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education and Black Careers.
Each of the finalists spent a full day at SMC’s main campus for interviews with the Board of Trustees. They also appeared at public forums to speak and answer questions. The forums were held for two hours for each candidate and ran from Nov. 14-16.
Tom Donner — who has served as SMC’s interim president since last December when Robertson announced her retirement — said he was impressed by the finalists, believing the search committee did an excellent job providing diverse candidates to choose from.
“These weren’t cookie-cutter finalists,” Donner said. “The board has been presented with three candidates who have very distinct management styles, and it’s been the board of trustees’ job to figure out which one’s best for the college.”
On Monday, the answer was revealed to be Dr. Tsang.
Tsang has two children, Richard, 20, a junior at UC Berkeley majoring in political science and history, and Kathryn, 19, a sophomore at UC Davis majoring is biology.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 6, 2005. Read the original PDF.