Ava L. Parker was appointed president of Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, Florida. The college enrolls nearly 30,000 students and Blacks make up 24 percent of the student body. When she takes office on July 1, Parker will be the first woman president of Palm Beach State College.
Currently, Parker is executive vice president and chief operating officer at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. She has been on the staff at Florida Polytechnic since 2012. Previously, Parker served for 10 years as chair of the Board of Governors of the State University System in Florida. She is the former general counsel for Edward Waters College, a historically Black educational institution in Jacksonville, Florida.
Parker is a graduate of the University of Florida, where she majored in journalism. She is also a graduate of the University of Florida Law School.
