Michael A. Baston has accepted an offer from the board of trustees of Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, to become the college’s fifth president. He will take office on July 1.
“It is a high honor to be selected to serve as the fifth president of Cuyahoga Community College,” Dr. Baston said. “Tri-C’s legacy of commitment to students and the community, and enormous regional economic impact is a testament to the extraordinary leadership both past and present. I look forward to leading this vanguard institution toward a bold, bright and ambitious future.”
Cuyahoga Community College enrolls nearly 19,000 students, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 21 percent of the student body.
Since 2017, Dr. Baston has been serving as president of Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York. He began his career as an attorney representing various educational institutions and social justice organizations. His work with academic clients led him to pursue a second career in academia as both a professor of legal studies and business and a student affairs administrator.
Dr. Baston holds a bachelor’s degree from Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. He earned a juris doctorate from Brooklyn Law School and an educational doctorate from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.
