
Gateway President/CEO Elected to American Association of Community Colleges Board of Directors
G. Edward Hughes, president/CEO of Gateway Community & Technical College, has been
elected to the board of directors of the American Association of Community Colleges
for a three-year term beginning in July.
"It is an honor to be elected by my peers across the country to the AACC Board, Dr.
Hughes said. This is a critical time for the AACC board, especially as we hire and
begin working with a new association president. The acclaim and emphasis President
Obama's administration and the Congress have given community and technical colleges
is gratifying. I look forward to helping shape the future direction of the community
college movement in the world as a member of the board."
Dr. Hughes is one of six new board members elected from a field of 11 candidates in
the institutional representative category. Directors are elected by the presidents/CEOs
of AACC member institutions.
This is the third time the Gateway president has been elected to a national board
or committee of the AACC, which is known as the collective voice of the nations 1,200
community colleges. He was elected to the Presidents Academy Executive Committee in
2000 and as chair of that group for a two-year term in 2004-05.
Based in Washington, D.C., the AACC is the primary advocacy organization for community
colleges at the national level and works closely with directors of state offices to
inform and affect state policy.
In addition to previous elective office, Dr. Hughes served as a member of the AACC
Executive Committee from 2000-2006. He has also served as a member of the AACC Commission
for Workforce Development, Commission on Global Studies and as founding board member
of the Rural Community College Alliance.
A native of Gettysburg, Pa., Dr. Hughes is Gateway's founding president/CEO. Before
joining Gateway, he served as president of Hazard Community College from 1985 to 2001.
He is past president of the Community Colleges of Appalachia (2000-01) and the Southern
Association of Community, Junior, and Technical Colleges (2001-02). He has received
numerous awards for his leadership in education and civic involvement, including the
Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005 from Catawba College and most recently the Unity
Award from the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce (2009). He was the founding chair
of The Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky in Hazard, is the founding chair of
The Life Learning Center in Covington, led the Northern Kentucky United Way campaign
in 2003 and co-chaired the Northern Kentucky Fine Arts Fund Campaign in 2009. He also
served as president of the Kentucky Symphony board in 2009.
His previous education experience includes faculty and administrative positions at
Mississippi County Community College in Arkansas, Jackson State Community College
in Tennessee, Southern Illinois University, and the North Country Community College
in New York. Dr. Hughes earned bachelors and masters degrees in psychology from Catawba
College and Middle Tennessee State University, respectively, and a Ph.D. in higher
education from Southern Illinois University.