Araceli ChavezBecoming a teacher, much less a community college president, was never Linda Rose’s plan.
But when a professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills mentioned to the talkative Compton native and working mother of two boys that she should consider teaching, she started to think about it.
“All it takes is for that one instructor to plant a seed in your brain,” Santa Ana College’s new president said. “[My career] started with a teacher saying, ‘You’re good at this.’”
After returning to school in her late 30s, Rose earned three academic degrees in six years and started teaching English at Cerritos College. She received a doctorate in education from UCLA and has since logged 23 years of leadership in higher education, including her previous role as SAC’s vice president of academic affairs from 2011 to 2014.
For the past two years, Rose was the president of Los Angeles Southwest College. She returned to SAC in July.
As SAC’s new president, Rose plans to promote the college throughout the community and wants to create more connections with local businesses so students can receive internships in their chosen field.
“If you are on this campus you are here because you want something better and you see education as a means to do that,” she said. “I can tell you it is.”
