Anne M. Kress named president of Northern Virginia Community College

Dr. Anne M. Kress will become the next president of Northern Virginia Community College. She will assume the role at the beginning of 2020.

“From the earliest stages of this process, the NOVA college community placed a premium on successful leadership experience and Anne Kress offers that and more,” said Dr. Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges. “Throughout her 30-year career, she has seen the way a community college works at practically every level and her external experience, through various national organizations, demonstrates that she is prepared to lead an institution as large, diverse, and dynamic as NOVA.”

“Dr. Kress’s proven leadership and commitment to student success align perfectly with NOVA’s strategic priorities,” said Rick Pearson, chair of the Northern Virginia Community College Local Board. “Her dedication and experience cultivating community partnerships will prove invaluable at addressing the workforce challenges facing our region. This makes her the perfect fit for NOVA. We’re grateful for the selection process that attracted so many talented community college leaders, for its transparency, and the opportunities it gave our faculty, staff, students, and community members to participate.”

Kress is currently the president of Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, and has 30 years of community college experience.

Her career began in 1989 at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida as an adjunct instructor of English. She rose through the ranks at that institution becoming an associate professor in 1994; a department chair in 1998; the Title III project director in 2000; an associate vice president in 2002; and provost and vice president for Academic Affairs in 2005.

She became the president of Monroe Community College in 2009. Kress is serving her second term on the board of directors of the American Association of Community Colleges and as a member of the Presidents’ Trust of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Kress earned two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree, and a doctorate from the University of Florida.

“I am honored, humbled, and excited to have been selected as NOVA’s next president. NOVA has always been bold and innovative: a national leader that consistently sets the bar for excellence and then surpasses it,” said Kress. “During my visit, it was immediately clear that NOVA’s talented faculty and staff are the heart that gives life to the college’s mission. Every day, thanks to their work, amazing and inspiring students find their own pathway to the American Dream in a region that values both their success and the outstanding institution that makes this opportunity a reality. I am truly grateful for the chance to be part of such a dynamic and diverse academic community, and look forward to working with all of NOVA, the Board, partners in Northern Virginia, and the VCCS in service of this important and vital mission.”

Kress’s selection ends a national search that attracted 80 applicants. She will become the college’s sixth permanent president, succeeding Dr. Melvyn D. Schiavelli, who has served as the college’s interim president since spring.

Established in 1964, Northern Virginia Community College is the largest public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia and one of America’s largest community colleges. NOVA enrolls more than 75,000 students at its six campuses in Alexandria, Annandale, Loudoun, Manassas, Springfield and Woodbridge, and through the Extended Learning Institute.