Lakeland names new president

Ahuja anticipated ‘to assume role soon,’ trustees report

After a nationwide search, the Lakeland Community College Board of Trustees has named Sunil Ahuja as the college’s sixth president.

Ahuja will replace Morris Beverage Jr., who announced his resignation in a letter to faculty April 1 ahead of his planned Aug. 15 retirement.

Beverage — a 1974 graduate of Lakeland, who later served as the college’s treasurer and chief fiscal officer for nearly 11 years before being named president in 2001 — didn’t specify a reason for his decision in the missive.

The trustees voted unanimously to appoint Ahuja at their regular meeting April 4.

The selection process, assisted by the executive search firm R.H. Perry, was additionally facilitated by a committee comprising representatives from Lakeland faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, the Lakeland Foundation,

students, alumni, and community members.

According to the board, Ahuja brings with him “a wealth of experience and a distinguished record of leadership,” gained most recently as provost and vice president for academic and student affairs at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Additionally, he “advanced significant institutional priorities, with accomplishments in the development of forward-looking academic vision and programs for enrollment growth, strategic planning, financial stewardship and resource management, accreditation and assessment, data analytics, and retention and completion initiatives leading to student success.”

Ahuja previously served as associate provost for academic affairs at the University of Scranton, as vice president for accreditation relations, institutional change, and research at the Higher Learning Commission in Chicago, and as dean of the division of social sciences and human services at Lorain County Community College.

He was also a professor of

political science at Youngstown State University, where he served as acting chair of the department of history and as chair of the academic senate.

Additionally, Ahuja has held faculty appointments at Seton Hall University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and has been affiliated with several national higher education organizations, including as an alum of the Becoming a Provost Academy, sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and the American Academic Leadership Institute.

He was also an American Council on Education Fellow (with a fellowship at Baldwin Wallace University) and an Ohio Academic Leadership Academy Fellow (with a fellowship at the University of Akron).

An alum of the Academy for Advanced Leadership of the Chair Academy, Ahuja holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska and has published nine books and numerous articles and book chapters on American legislative politics and congressional elections.

“The board is thrilled to welcome Dr. Ahuja to the Lakeland family,” said Board Chair Ellen Foley Kessler. “His visionary leadership will undoubtedly propel us into the next chapter of our history. He is so honored and so anxious to become part of the Lakeland family and community.”

Ahuja is anticipated “to assume the role soon” and participate in Lakeland’s upcoming commencement ceremony May 11, the trustees confirmed.

SUBMITTED Sunil Ahuja