Karas selected as new Mendocino College president/superintendent
- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
- Posted On
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino College has selected its new president/superintendent.
Dr. Timothy Karas, currently the president of the College of Alameda, has been chosen as the next leader of Mendocino College, said interim Superintendent/President Eileen Cichocki.
Karas was selected from a field of four candidates, which included Cichocki, Greg Nelson and Richard Storti.
Karas was selected following a series of public forums with the candidates held online in May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cichocki, who has served as interim superintendent/president since July, will return to her role as assistant superintendent/vice president.
Karas’ parents are immigrants to California from post-war Europe. His mother is a retired teacher’s aid and his father is a grocer.
He grew up in San Jose, prior to it becoming Silicon Valley with fruit orchards and farms close to his family home, and became the first person in his family to attend college.
Karas received an associate degree from West Valley College, following that with a Bachelor of Arts in geography from Humboldt State University and a Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University.
Before working in academia, he worked as a librarian for the City of Palo Alto and Redwood City.
He completed his doctoral studies in the field of Educational Leadership at Fielding Graduate University in 2017.
He was a tenured faculty member at the College of San Mateo, and later served as dean of liberal studies and language arts (2009-2014) and director of library services (2005-2009) at Mission College.
In July 2014, Dr. Karas joined the College of Alameda as vice-president of instruction. He was appointed College of Alameda President in January 2017.
During the past 15 years he has served on eight accreditation site visit teams. He served as Executive Board President of the Council of Chief Librarians: California Community Colleges and was an Executive Board Member (2008-2014).
Dr. Karas believes education is a transformational experience for individuals and communities. He has worked to imbed community college education intuitions into the fabric of the community. Community colleges are economic development powerhouses for counties, cities, neighborhoods, and individuals.
In Alameda, Dr. Karas serves on the board of directors for the Alameda Chamber of Commerce, Alameda Family Services; serves on the mayor’s economic development task force; and participates in the local Rotary Club.
Dr. Karas has served on many civic committees and commissions, including the City of San Jose Library Commission, Bond and Parcel Tax Citizen Oversight Committees, and Santa Clara County Sister County Commission. Karas co-authored a chapter in the book Campus Partnership in Small Academic Libraries: Challenges and Rewards.