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The �鶹��Ƶ Board of Regents voted today to name Leigh B. Goodson, Ph.D., as the fourth president to serve the college since it was founded in 1970. Goodson is the first female named to the role in �鶹��Ƶ’s history and the first female president of one of the state’s three largest higher education institutions. �鶹��Ƶ provides the first two years of a baccalaureate education and key workforce training for the Tulsa area.

Goodson was selected after a seven-month, nationwide search involving community and college representatives. Goodson was a finalist among three candidates including Richard Shrubb, Ph.D., of Minnesota and Ann Valentine, Ph.D., of Indiana. The new president is expected to start the first week in July.

“As Regents, our goal is to select a future leader for �鶹��Ƶ who will honor the values and successes of the past and chart a new course for the future as a two-year community college with strong partnerships and students as our focus,” said �鶹��Ƶ Board of Regents Chair Ron Looney. “Dr. Leigh Goodson is extremely qualified with a background as an administrator and faculty member plus she has a strong understanding of the path our students take from common education to degree obtainment to achieve success.”

The �鶹��Ƶ Presidential search began following the announcement that current �鶹��Ƶ President Thomas K. McKeon would retire at the end of June 2014. McKeon led many of the college’s significant administrative and process improvements with a strong focus on student access and academic excellence. He also launched the nationally recognized Tulsa Achieves program which has resulted in the admission of more than 10,000 students in seven years without the cost of tuition and fees.

“Dr. McKeon has certainly left a lasting imprint on �鶹��Ƶ as the college’s third president and both he and the �鶹��Ƶ Regents are committed to helping with the transition to Dr. Goodson,” said Looney. “The Board of Regents is excited about the visionary and collaborative leadership that Goodson brings and her established relationships in Oklahoma’s higher education system as well as within the Tulsa community.”

Goodson currently serves as the vice president for Research and Institutional Advancement at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and the OSU in Tulsa branch campus. Goodson earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Research and Evaluation from OSU in Stillwater, a Master of Science in Organizational Communication from Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from OSU.

Goodson resides in Tulsa with her husband Mark and two children. She serves on the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education, the YMCA of Greater Tulsa Metropolitan Board of Directors and as an advisor to the board of directors and executive council for the Oklahoma Innovation Institute and Tulsa Research Partners. Goodson has participated in Leadership Oklahoma Class XXIII; Leadership Tulsa Class 35; OK2Grow High School Completion Coalition; Society of Research Administrators, International; Tulsa Metro Chamber – Healthcare Legislative Task Force, Education Legislative Task Force and Economic Development Resource Committee.

�鶹��Ƶ has nearly 29,000 students enrolled in credit classes annually compared to 2,796 students when the College opened in 1970. In May 2013, �鶹��Ƶ had the largest number of graduates in its 43-year history. Currently, �鶹��Ƶ offers more online degrees and enrolls more concurrent students than any college or university in the state.

�鶹��Ƶ is the third largest college or university in the state and the largest community college and ranks in the top 3 percent nationally its number of annual graduates. �鶹��Ƶ’s faculty to student ratio is 1:20 and it has more than 300 full-time faculty, more than 780 part-time faculty and 660 full-time employees. It offers 154 individual associate degree programs and 74 credit-bearing certificate programs.