Rodriguez to lead San Bernardino Community College District beginning Aug. 1

San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD) has completed their search for a new district leader.

After a lengthy process the Board of Trustees appointed San Bernardino Valley College President Diana Z. Rodriguez as the district’s 16^th Chancellor.

Rodriguez has spent more than 30 years working in higher education as a faculty member and administrator. Before leading San Bernardino Valley College, she served as Vice President of Student Services and Interim Vice President of Academic Services at Las Positas College, and Vice President of Student Services at Palo Verde College.

Rodriguez will begin her new duties as Chancellor of the District on August 1. She will take over for current interim Chancellor Jose F. Torres, who will return to his position as the Executive Vice Chancellor for the district.

“Serving as the next chancellor is the honor of a lifetime,” Rodriguez said of her new role. “My passion for this work comes from my own story. As I walk across our district and our campuses, I see myself in our students. I am second-generation Mexican-American, first in my family to go to college, and a very proud community college graduate,” she said.

Dr. Anne Viricel, chair of the SBCCD Board of Trustees, said the decision to hire Rodriguez will shape the district’s future, which is one of the area’s largest employers and an economic engine for the Inland area.

“We have seen her excellence at San Bernardino Valley College, and she has proven herself the right leader at the right time,” Viricel said. She said Rodriguez, who has led SBVC since 2016, has experience at two-year and four-year institutions, from classified staff to a faculty member to administrative leader.

Rodriguez graduated from Palo Verde College, earned three degrees from California State University, San Bernardino in marketing, a master’s degree in business administration, and another master’s degree in education. She is a doctoral candidate in Higher Educational Leadership at Northcentral University.