Three candidates are in the running for Portland Community College president.
Bryan M. Vance / OPB
Oregon’s largest college has announced three presidential finalists almost exactly a year after Portland Community College ended the troubled tenure of its previous president.
Jeremy Brown wore out his welcome as PCC president after clashing with faculty and other administrators, but the school now has three experienced executives vying for the job. They all have ties to the West Coast, though not to Oregon.
Rassoul Dastmozd was vice president of Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, before becoming president of Saint Paul College in Minnesota.
Melinda Nish is president of the Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista, California.
And Mark Mitsui earned degrees from universities in Washington and was a top executive at two Seattle-area colleges. He now works for the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
The finalists are expected to tour PCC’s four main campuses next week. A hiring decision is likely in early summer.