Judith Valles elected to lead orchestra’s board
Judith Valles, a former mayor of San Bernardino, has been elected president of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra’s board of directors.
Valles will serve a two-year term, ending June 30, 2024.
It’s the second time she has served in this position, having previously completed the term of Mary Schnepp, who retired midterm in 2013. Valles served until 2015, when outgoing President Dean McVay was elected and served until the end of the symphony’s current fiscal year.
It was McVay who suggested that Valles be considered as president again.
“Five years ago, Judith turned over the reins of the symphony to me and I could not be more proud to return the symphony back into her capable hands,” McVay said in a news release. “Judith is an incredible leader and will continue to guide our symphony to new heights.”
Valles was born in San Bernardino and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Redlands and her Master of Arts from UC Riverside. From 1988 to 1995, she was president of Golden West Community College and she also has served as interim president of both Coastline College and Oxnard College.
In 1998, she was elected mayor San Bernardino and served two terms. After that, she served three years as president of Los Angeles Mission College.
“I am pleased to lead an organization that so effectively promotes the arts,” Valles said in the news release. “The arts are the lifeblood of a community and I can think of no organization that is more successful in bringing the arts to the Inland Empire than our marvelous symphony.”