QCC approves new president

Courtesy/QCC Luis Pedraja, who was appointed to be the next Quinsigamond Community College president Monday. The state Board of Higher Education will vote on the recommendation in May.

Grant Welker Quinsigamond Community College's downtown Worcester campus. The college is slated to have its first new president in a decade.

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By Grant Welker

Quinsigamond Community College has recommended a new president, Luis Pedraja, to replace longtime head Gail Carberry, who is leaving at the end of the school year.

Pedraja was approved by Quinsigamond's board of trustees Monday, and now must be approved by the state Board of Higher Education, which is scheduled to vote on his appointment in May.

Pedraja is now the interim vice chancellor of academic affairs for an Oakland, Calif., community college district that includes four colleges. He is a native of Cuba who grew up in Miami and was the first in his family to attend college.

His career has also included teaching stints at the University of Puget Sound and Southern Methodist University. He was also a provost and vice president of academic affairs at Antioch University Los Angeles.

In his current role, Pedraja is on the administration of the 35,000-student Peralta Community College District. The district includes Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College and Merritt College.

Pedraja is in line to succeed Gail Carberry, Quinsigamond's president for the past 10 years. He would become the second new Central Massachusetts higher education president named this year, behind Mount Wachusett Community College's new president, James Vander Hooven, who started earlier this month as the school's third-ever president.

In Worcester, Becker College will also have a vacancy. President Robert Johnson accepted a new job last month to be the chancellor of UMass Dartmouth.