Dr. Dorothy Duran on "valuing people, acknowledging success, respecting your team, and creating a vision"
In March, the Board of Trustees of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities appointed Dr. Dorothy Duran as president-elect of Minnesota State College - Southeast Technical. "Dr. Duran is committed to excellence and student success," said Steven Rosenstone, chancellor of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. "She has a track record of fostering a culture of trust and collaboration and will be a generous partner with business, industry, the public schools and the communities the college serves. She will be a strong, decisive and effective leader for Southeast Technical."
Dr. Duran was the vice president for academic affairs at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs from 2006-2014. Previously, she served at Northern New Mexico College as dean/director of the El Rito campus from 1998 to 2006, and at Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute from 1988 to 1996.
"I am tremendously honored to be named president of this outstanding college. I look forward to working with faculty, staff, students, and the Winona and Red Wing communities to build upon the college's 65-year record of innovation and collaboration, and to lead Southeast Tech to new levels of excellence," she said.
A native of New Mexico, Dr. Duran grew up in Albuquerque. In tenth grade, she was seriously injured trying out for a soccer tournament. She was in and out of the hospital for the next two years and didn't return to finish high school. Instead she passed the GED test.
When she was 18, she accompanied a friend who was enrolling at the University of New Mexico. She recalled, "I felt intimidated and unworthy to even go through the door, so he went in without me. After he registered he came back out and finally coaxed me in to sign up for classes myself. One person's belief in me made the difference." Four years later she graduated from college with a major in English and minor in sociology.
She went on to earn a master's degree in educational foundations from the University of New Mexico. As a Kellogg Fellow, she earned her Ph.D. in 1988 at the University of Texas-Austin's Community College Leadership Program, one of the nation's top programs for developing key college administrators.
"I've been blessed and I want to pay it forward," Dr. Duran said. "I've gone from GED to Ph.D. I want to help people develop the grit, determination, and resilience that have seen me through to where I am now."
On July 1, 2014, Dr. Dorothy Duran will become the college's eighth president. She stated, "I am very excited to come to Minnesota State College - Southeast Technical. Jim Johnson has put the college in a great place by sharing the same qualities that I feel a leader has to have: valuing people, acknowledging success, respecting your team, and creating a vision. Every time I have had the opportunity to visit the college I have been delighted by the happiness, focus, and genuinely positive atmosphere found at Southeast Technical."
We are very happy to welcome Dr. Duran to Southeast Technical!