The chancellor is the chief executive officer of the Seattle College District who is hired by and reports to the Board of Trustees. The chancellor is the district’s representative and advocate at local, regional, state and national organizations. The chancellor is responsible for district-wide administrative services and support including Education, Planning, e-Learning and Workforce Development; Business, Finance and Technology; and Human Resources. Additionally, the chancellor is responsible for Seattle Colleges Television and web operations; district-wide international student programs; and institutional advancement.
Kurt Buttleman Interim Vice Chancellor of Academics and Student Success
Malcolm Grothe Associate Vice Chancellor of Workforce Education
Jennifer Howard Interim Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services
Andrea Insley Executive Director of Global Initiatives
Steven Leahy Director of Government Relations
Earnest Phillips Associate Vice Chancellor of Communications and Strategic Initiatives
Cindy Riche Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer
Wendy Schneider Associate Vice Chancellor Office of Advancement
2017 District-Wide Organizational Chart (updated January 2018)
Dr. Shouan Pan was appointed chancellor of Seattle Colleges in July 2016. He spent the previous eight years as president of Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz. His other executive roles include provost of Broward College-South Campus; executive dean of Instruction and Student Services at Florida State College at Jacksonville; dean of Student Life at Community College of Philadelphia; and assistant professor of Educational Psychology and Recruitment and Retention Administrator at Northern Arizona University.
Pan centers his leadership and management practices on fulfilling the community college mission and promoting student and community success. He places emphasis on working with institutional and community stakeholders in formulating a common vision and building consensus on strategic and operational decisions. His professional success is evidenced in his strong track record of improving student success; building collaborative partnerships with educational institutions, businesses, and civic organizations to further institutional goals and community economic development; and securing external resources.
He is actively engaged at local, state, and national levels, including the American Association of Community Colleges, Campus Compact, Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, Arizona Commission of Postsecondary Education, and numerous community boards. He has received several honors and awards, including the Benedictine Values Award, Paul Elsner International Excellence in Leadership Award, Innovation of the Year Award by the League for Innovation in the Community College, Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction by the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, and the Veora E. Johnson Spirit of Unity MLK Award by the Mesa MLK Jr. Celebration Committee.
Chancellor Pan's full bio
Dr. Warren Brown has led instruction and student services at several colleges and brings an unwavering commitment to students and their success. He has more than 20 years of experience in the community college system, serving as an administrator at Seattle Central College, Cascadia Community College, Pierce College and Whatcom Community College. As executive vice president at Central, he facilitated instructional planning that led to the development of new applied baccalaureate degrees in allied health and nursing and a new associate degree in allied health. His career also includes experience as a tenured instructor in communication studies at Pierce College and as an instructor at Portland State University.
Brown holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Higher Education from the University of Washington. His research on multicultural curriculum development in online courses has been published in journals including Community College Journal of Research and Practice and Multicultural Education and Technology Journal. He earned his master’s degree in speech communication at Portland State University and his bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington.
An adjunct faculty member for Seattle University’s doctoral program in educational leadership, Brown is a mentor to community college administrators through the Washington Executive Leadership Academy. He serves on the board of University Family YMCA and is a member of the American Educational Research Association.
Bio coming soon.
Dr. Edwards Lange has a wide range of experience in higher education administration and has been a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion throughout her career. She started her tenure as interim president of Seattle Central in August of 2015. Prior to this, she served as vice president for Minority Affairs and vice provost for Diversity at UW. In these roles, she was responsible for increasing diversity and working with senior leadership to improve the campus climate and retention of diverse students, faculty and staff. As a result of her work, the entire UW community is now engaged in making the campus more inclusive and welcoming for people of all backgrounds.
Before joining UW, Dr. Edwards Lange worked for the Seattle Colleges District and at North Seattle College in education and planning. Additionally, she has held positions in academic and student services at the University of California, Irvine; Western Washington University; and UW.
Dr. Edwards Lange has served on a number of national, state and local committees and boards to advance equity and inclusion in higher education. She is a charter member of the National Association of Chief Diversity Officers. She is also a member of the Women in Engineering and Program Advocates Network (WEPAN), the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the American Educational Research Association and the Association for Institutional Research.
The recipient of UW's 2005 Diversity Award for Community Building, Dr. Edwards Lange has devoted much of her time and effort to community activism and serving as an advocate for diversity in higher education. In 2011, she was named a Woman of Influence by the Puget Sound Business Journal and received a Crystal Eagle Leadership Award at Tabor 100's annual Captains of Industry Gala. In 2013, Dr. Lange was honored for her extraordinary long–term service to WEPAN with the organizationa's Founder's Award. She also received the 2013 UW College of Education Distinguished Graduate Award.
Dr. Edwards Lange earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies and a Master of Public Administration from UW, and a bachelor's degree in social ecology from the University of California, Irvine.
Peter Lortz was named interim president of South Seattle College on Sept. 1, 2017. He had been vice president of Instruction at South since January 2015.
Lortz has worked with community colleges for more than 20 years. He started his career as an adjunct instructor in Biology, Anatomy & Physiology and Environmental Science. After teaching at several colleges in Washington and Ohio, he was hired as a full-time Biology faculty at North Seattle College in 1997. He was a tenured faculty member for approximately 10 years, which included work as the Curriculum Committee chair along with other committee and initiative work.
In 2007, Lortz was chosen to be dean of the Math, Sciences and Social Sciences division at North, marking the beginning of his administrative career. In addition to his duties as dean, he served as the interim IT director and interim vice president for Instruction. He also worked on various district and state groups, including the Negotiations Team for the Seattle Colleges faculty contract.
In January 2015, he transitioned to South as the vice president of Instruction.
Lortz has a masters’ degree in Zoology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, a bachelor’s degree in Biology from DePauw University, and has complemented his work experience with a variety of professional education opportunities including the “Power of Leadership” series from the Whidbey Institute and “Washington Executive Leadership Academy” from the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges.
Board Member Institution of the League for Innovation