Lone Star College announces finalist for chancellor
Lone Star College’s Board of Trustees will vote next month to select attorney Mario K. Castillo as the community college system’s next chancellor.
The trustees announced Castillo as their sole finalist for the position during a special meeting last week. Castillo, Lone Star’s general counsel and chief operating officer, would be the system’s first Hispanic chancellor and its fifth chancellor overall.
“This is a historic moment in the history of Lone Star College with the appointment of the first Hispanic chancellor demonstrating the Lone Star College Board of Trustees’ commitment to our culture of engagement and inclusiveness,” board Chair Michael Stoma said. “The process to select a new chancellor involved many hours of research and due diligence to ensure we selected the right finalist.”
The decision came after a months-long nationwide search to find a replacement for Stephen Head, who announced his retirement in January after eight years as chancellor. Trustees initiated an employee survey and a search advisory committee to select a candidate profile, and the Association of Community College Trustees Searches conducted the search to recruit a pool of candidates, according to system officials.
Castillo has served as Lone Star’s general counsel since 2015. He rose through the ranks, concurrently working as vice chancellor before being promoted to chief operating officer. The attorney was also interim president at the school’s Kingwood campus for one academic year.
“I look forward to working with Mario Castillo to continue our mission of providing comprehensive educational opportunities and programs to enrich lives,” Stoma said. “I would also like to recognize and thank all board members for their work on this very important decision.” Head will step down Aug. 1. He has been chancellor since 2014, a time of growth which saw the system open an onlineonly campus and a new campus in north Houston.
Head also oversaw a $511.6 million budget in 2023 and steady enrollment despite declines across the country — more than 85,000 students attend courses across the school’s eight locations. Lone Star College holds an ad valorem tax rate of 10.78 cents per $100 valuation.