Dr. Lori Suddick Named as Next President of DMACC

The Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Lori Suddick, Ed.D. as the college's fifth president and chief executive officer, following a special Board meeting Monday morning.

At the conclusion of an extensive national search, the Board selected Suddick, a seasoned higher education leader with over 26 years of experience, to lead Iowa's largest community college into its next era of student achievement. Suddick will begin her tenure on June 15, 2026.

Suddick has served as the president and chief executive officer of the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois since 2018. There, she led significant transformational changes resulting in a 10-percentage point increase in three-year graduation rates, a 272 percent increase in dual enrollment headcount, and significant increases in student retention. She also facilitated the college's first ever capital campaign and multimillion-dollar endowment gift.

"Dr. Suddick is a strategic, thoughtful leader with a proven track record of enhancing student momentum and deepening her institution's impact across the area it serves," said Kevin Halterman, president of the DMACC Board of Directors and chair of the Presidential Search Committee. "Her expertise in building skilled workforce pipelines and her commitment to teaching and learning excellence make her the ideal person to strengthen DMACC's mission. We are thrilled to welcome her to the DMACC and Central Iowa communities."

Halterman also thanked the DMACC community for its engagement during the presidential search. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and community members provided feedback that shaped the presidential profile and the Board's comprehensive search process. In-person and online participation in this month's on-campus finalist open forums was especially high, he noted.

The College of Lake County serves more than 23,000 students at its three campuses. It was recently named an Aspen Prize Top 200 U.S. Community College, the nation's premier recognition of high achievement and performance among two-year colleges - an honor that DMACC shared.

"DMACC is a cornerstone of Iowa's economic and social vitality," Suddick said. "I am excited for the opportunity to lead an institution that is so vital to so many students, families, businesses, and industries throughout Iowa."

Suddick's career also includes nine years as vice president of learning and chief academic officer at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She spent 19 years there, starting as faculty member and program director in the Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant Program and later serving as an associate dean of health sciences and interim dean of the college's Marinette, Wisconsin campus before becoming a vice president.

Suddick began her career as a speech-language pathologist, serving in various medical and rehabilitation settings before transitioning into higher education leadership. She earned her master's and bachelor's degrees, both in Speech and Language Pathology, from Eastern Michigan University and holds a Doctor of Education with a specialization in Career and Technical Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Throughout her career, Suddick has earned recognition for her leadership in student momentum metrics and has served on numerous state and national workforce development, higher education, and nonprofit boards.

At DMACC, she will succeed Rob Denson, who retired as president in December, and Liang Chee Wee, Ph.D., who is serving as DMACC's interim president through June.

Suddick, a first-generation college student, emphasized her commitment to fostering a student-first environment when she visited DMACC earlier this month.

"Every individual has a right to access and succeed in higher education and have the benefit of the high-quality education that we deliver and the opportunities that follow because we've engaged them in it," she said.

"We're going to help every student succeed, every employee thrive, so every business achieves and every community grows. That is my aim every day. It's what I live and breathe."

For more details about the Presidential Search process, visit president.dmacc.edu.

Media contact: Dan Ryan, Executive Director, Strategic Communications & Marketing; [email protected].