Dr. Ken Atwater became President of South Mountain Community College on July 2, 2001.
For the five years prior to becoming President, he served as Vice President for Student Services at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan. Dr. Atwater has served in community college leadership positions for the past 24 years.
South Mountain Community College serves more than 8,000 students each year at its main campus at 7050 S. 24th St. (just north of Baseline), as well as at the SMCC Guadalupe Center, the SMCC Ahwatukee Foothills Center, and locations throughout Laveen.
The president resides in the South Mountain Village area.
For three years prior to his position at Kellogg, Dr. Atwater was Vice President and Dean of Students at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. He has also been Vice President for Student Development Services at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina; and Dean of Students at Catonsville Community College in Catonsville, Maryland.
At Jackson State Community College, in his native state of Tennessee, Dr. Atwater was Director of Counseling Services and Director of Student Activities.
Dr. Atwater earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education (with a focus on community colleges) from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, in 1989. He earned a Master of Science degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1978 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and Theater, and also Sociology, in 1977, all from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.
The President is a graduate of the prestigious Executive Leadership Institute of the League for Innovation for Community Colleges; and also is a graduate of the Institute for Leadership Effectiveness, University of Tennessee -- Knoxville.
Dr. Atwater has been elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges, beginning July 2004.
He has served on the Greater Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors since August 2001 and the Valley of the Sun YMCA Board of Directors since July 2002.
Also, he has served on the boards of the Southwestern Michigan Urban League, the Battle Creek Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Greater Battle Creek United Way, the American Association of Community College Commission on Research, and has been Vice Chair of the Board of the National Institute for Student Success.