Champlain, Maine Maritime, Great Bay Name New Presidents … Plus a Progressive Prosecutor Becomes US Attorney
By John O. Harney
Comings and Goings …
“ALEX”
The Champlain College Board of Trustees named Alejandro “Alex” Hernandez as the 10th president of the Burlington, Vt. college, starting in June 2022. Hernandez is dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies and vice provost of online learning at the University of Virginia.
He’ll succeed Benjamin Ola. Akande, who stepped down after less than a year in charge, and former Champlain President Dave Finney, an earlier Champlain president who then filled in as interim president.
The Maine Maritime Academy’s Board of Trustees chose Jerald S. “Jerry” Paul to be the 15th president of the Castine, Maine academy, his alma mater. Paul is a former Florida state representative and administrator of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration who is currently president of Capitol Access.
He will succeed William J. Brennan, who steps down from the position at the end of April following 12 years of leadership at the academy.
The Community College System of New Hampshire (CCSNH) Board of Trustees appointed Cheryl Lesser, who is currently vice president for academic affairs at Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County Community College, to be the next president of Great Bay Community College, serving New Hampshire’s seacoast region from a campus in Portsmouth and an academic center in Rochester.
She will succeed interim President Cathryn Addy in March 2022.
With tie-breaking votes from Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. Senate confirmed Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins to be U.S. attorney for Massachusetts.
Known as a progressive prosecutor, Rollins is the first Black woman to become the state’s top federal law enforcement official.