Alabama Community College System Chancellor Jimmy Baker has announced the appointment of Cynthia Anthony as interim president of Lawson State Community College after longtime Lawson State President Perry Ward recently announced his retirement effective Aug. 31, 2020.
Anthony has 30 years of higher education experience, most recently serving as interim vice chancellor for student success for the Alabama Community College System and executive vice president and dean of students at Lawson State.
Prior to her leadership at Lawson State, Anthony served at Bessemer State Technical College, which merged with Lawson State in 2005. In addition to various other leadership rolls within the ACCS, she served as interim president at three other ACCS institutions: Drake State Community and Technical College, Shelton State Community College and Enterprise State Community College.
“Dr. Anthony has been an important part of the Alabama Community College System for three decades and I look forward to working with her as she leads Lawson State during this important transition,” Baker said. “Dr. Anthony is an insightful and intuitive leader whose career has been focused on helping students and expanding their educational opportunities. The students, faculty, and staff at Lawson State is in capable hands with Dr. Anthony at the helm.”
Anthony earned a bachelor of arts degree in Psychology from Talladega College. She received both her educational specialist degree in educational leadership and her master of education degree in counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She completed her doctorate in educational leadership through a joint program at UAB and the University of Alabama.
She was awarded UAB’s Department of Education’s Outstanding Alumni Award in 2005.
“Student success has always been at the very core of every role I’ve filled within Alabama’s community colleges and I look forward to this opportunity to continue the great tradition of student achievement at Lawson State,” Anthony said. “I care deeply about the Birmingham and Bessemer communities and I look forward to continuing to work alongside public and private sector leaders to ensure we’re helping our students meet their education and training goals.”
Anthony’s tenure as interim president at Lawson State Community College will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
