Former Lieutenant Governor and Ferdinand native Sue Ellspermann will be Ivy Tech’s new president.
Ellspermann’s selection was approved unanimously, two months after she resigned as lieutenant governor to seek the job. She calls Ivy Tech “Indiana’s most important workforce development engine,” and says she’ll seek to build on efforts to better align its degree programs with the job skills Indiana employers need most.
Ellspermann says she’ll spend most of June meeting with Ivy Tech faculty around the state and listening to their ideas before formally becoming the community college system’s ninth president July 1.
Ellspermann says an Ivy Tech trustee suggested she apply last August, a month before president Thomas Snyder announced his retirement.
Governor Pence issued a statement calling her appointment “a win for education in Indiana.”
Board of Trustees chair Paula Hughes says a search committee interviewed nine candidates from a field of more than 100, then narrowed the list to three finalists. She praises Ellspermann’s ability to think strategically about the best way to achieve long-term goals.
Ellspermann headed the Center of Applied Research and Economic Development at the University of Southern Indiana before entering politics in 2010.
