At its December 13 Board of Trustees meeting, Wolde-Ab Isaac, Ph.D., chancellor of Riverside Community College District, swore in Virginia Blumenthal, Jose Alcala and Keri Then as trustees. Trustees Blumenthal and Alcala won re-election after being unopposed in last month’s election. Then defeated former Riverside City College student, Daryl Terrell. Then replaces Tracey Vackar who vacated her Area 5 seat after two terms in office.
Trustee Blumenthal has served on the Board of Trustees since 2006. She has a long history with the District and Riverside City College. She was honored by the District as an Alumnus of the Year and by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce as Citizen of the Year. She is a Krieger Meritorious Service Award winner for outstanding community service – the highest honor bestowed by the Riverside County Bar Association.
Trustee Blumenthal has more than 40 years of trial experience and is recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of the top 100 litigators in the United States. In addition to her service to the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees, Trustee Blumenthal is active with the Riverside County Philharmonic and the Riverside County's High School Mock Trial program, which she founded.
Meanwhile, Alcala won his second term as a trustee. A graduate of Riverside City College, Alcala later graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 2000. Two years later, he completed teacher preparation coursework at California State University, San Bernardino. Today, he teaches at March Mountain High School.
Trustee Alcala is active in the community, serving on the board of directors for the California Teachers Association and as a member of the Riverside City Public Library board of trustees. Recently, he was elected as a board member for the California Community College Trustees, serving as one of 21 members elected statewide by the 73 district governing boards.
Trustee Then is retired from the United States Air Force after more than twenty years of service. For the last 24 years, she and her husband, Robert, have called the city of Moreno Valley home. Since moving to Moreno Valley, she has been active in the community as a member of the board of directors for the Edgemont Women’s Club; the Moreno Valley Trailseekers; and a lifetime member and past senior vice commander of Moreno Valley Veterans of Foreign War, Post 8547. She was also a two-term appointee to the Moreno Valley Unified School District’s Measure M Citizens Bond Oversight Committee and a past commissioner for the Riverside County Commission for Women.
Trustee Then holds a doctorate in Business Administration from Argosy University, as well as a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado in Boulder; a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy State University; a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chapman University in Social Science; and an associate degree in Electronic Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force.
Currently, she is a visiting lecturer in IT, GIS, and Data Analytics at the University of Redlands. Trustee Then has been the recipient of the 2017 Excellence in Teaching award and selected as one of the best instructors at the University of Redlands in 2018. She and her husband, Robert, who is also a retired military servicemember, have two daughters, Christina and Elizabeth.
“I look forward to working with the trustees to ensure our communities have colleges that continue to provide high-quality educational opportunities with comprehensive academic pathways, unique transfer opportunities, and outstanding career and technical education programs,” Isaac said. “The District and its colleges have several projects aimed at ensuring the colleges can provide a well-educated workforce to meet the region’s growing needs.”
After taking the oath of office the Board voted to retain its current leadership structure with Bill Hedrick (Area 1) as president, Alcala as vice president, and Blumenthal as Board secretary.