Calling him a “transformative leader,” the Foothill-De Anza Community College District named Lee Lambert as its eighth chancellor.
Lambert, currently chancellor of Pima Community College in Arizona, will start in his new role Aug. 1.
In selecting Lambert, district officials cited his “impressive record of accomplishments.”
“I am so grateful to know that I am leaving Foothill-De Anza in good hands,” said chancellor Judy C. Miner, who is retiring after 35 years with the district and eight years as its top executive. “Under Lee Lambert’s leadership, Pima Community College emerged from accreditation and financial challenges to national recognition for its innovative workforce education programs and partnerships.
“His demonstrated skill at collaborating with campus and community partners to focus on the needs of students will serve him well here,” Miner added.
Lambert will work with Miner prior to her Sept. 5 retirement to help ensure a smooth transition.
While at Pima, Lambert launched a nationally recognized Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training program and led the development of the college’s Centers of Excellence in applied technology, health care, hospitality, information technology and cybersecurity, public safety and the arts.
He worked with the Pima Foundation to secure a $5 million gift, the single largest in the college’s history. He also established fast track programs to train learners for in-demand jobs, invested heavily in Pima Online and embedded diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout five campuses and four centers in greater Tucson.
Lambert has been chancellor at Pima Community College, which serves more than 30,000 students, since 2013. Prior to leading Pima, he served for nearly eight years as president of Shoreline Community College in Washington, overseeing the development of 100 percent online degrees and certificates in business and health care programs.
The district’s governing board is expected to formally approve Lambert’s contract at its June 12 meeting. His salary will be $448,047.12 per year, and his contract will run through June 2024.
“The district’s commitment to student success and educational excellence—driven by an equity agenda and guided by a set of core values rooted in integrity, inclusion, care for students’ well-being and sustainability—aligns with my personal and professional values,” Lambert said in a statement.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lambert was the first in his multiracial family to attend college right out of high school but stopped out after a year to enlist in the U.S. Army. Following his military service, he re-enrolled and successfully earned a degree.
Lambert holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from The Evergreen State College and a juris doctor from Seattle University. He has taught as an adjunct faculty member at The Evergreen State College and Centralia College.
Besides his professional experience, Lambert has taken on leadership roles on local, state and national boards and committees including Credential Engine, National Association of Workforce Boards, National Coalition of Certification Centers and the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.
He was named the Greater Tucson Leadership’s 2022 Man of the Year and received the Association of Community College Trustees 2017 Marie Y. Martin CEO of the Year Award.
Lambert was among four finalists recommended by a search committee made up of governing board, community, faculty, administrative, classified employee and student representatives. The finalists took part in open forums in early May, in which between 190 and 240 people participated each day. Some who watched or participated in the forums offered written comments about the candidates to trustees.
