Mount Wachusett Community College’s new president, James Vander Hooven, has started his tenure as the school’s third-ever head, the college said Monday.
Vander Hooven was chosen for the position by Mount Wachusett trustees in December and by the state Board of Higher Education in January. He started on campus in February for a transition period with Daniel Asquino, the longtime Mount Wachusett president who has stepped down after 30 years.
Vander Hooven joins the Gardner college from Landmark College in Putney, Vt., where he was the vice president for enrollment management. His career has also included stops in New Hampshire, Colorado and Arizona, where he was the president of a small community college on tribal territory southwest of Tuscon.
The Keene, N.H., resident has a bachelor’s in English from Ohio State University, a master’s in American studies from the University of Wyoming, and a doctorate in higher education leadership from the University of Maine.
Asquino left Mount Wachusett after serving as president since 1987, making him the longest-serving public higher education president in Massachusetts.
