SARATOGA, Calif.-- The Board of Trustees for the West Valley-Mission Community College District (WVMCCD) announced that West Valley College President Bradley J. Davis, J.D., has been as the District‘s next chancellor. Davis replaces Chancellor Patrick E. Schmitt, who is retiring after a seven-year tenure with the District.

Davis will assume the role of Chancellor on July 1. An interim president will be named in early July and a search for a permanent replacement will commence when the academic year begins in September.

Davis, the second-longest serving president in WVC history, has been with the District for more than ten years. He began as a Vice Chancellor in the District office and has served the past seven years as President. In his new role as chancellor, he will oversee both West Valley College (Saratoga, CA) and Mission College (Santa Clara, CA). 

As President, Davis shaped the WVC’s commitment to equity and diversity by creating West Valley’s first Office of Student Equity and Success and developed the President’s Commission on Diversity and the Faculty Fellows Equity Program. He helped launch the Community Grant Program, which provides free tuition, textbook vouchers, and meal coupons to more than 500 high school graduates every year. Davis helped establish the Cilker School of Art and Design and the Che School of Professional Studies. In addition, veteran services were expanded at WVC’s Daniel Furtado Veterans Resource Center.

Additionally, Davis raised more than $7 million in private gifts and $10 million in grants, including scholarships for students in need. He has strengthened relationships with the surrounding community and re-energized student life, including the creation of service-learning study abroad programs.

Since 2012, the District has successfully passed two bond campaigns earmarked to improve classroom learning and technology upgrades. Davis was not only involved in those bond measure campaigns, but has overseen the construction of seven new or renovated campus buildings at WVC, the most recent, a new 50,000 square-foot Student Services Center opening June 2019.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Anne Kepner, WVMCCD Board President
“The entire District will benefit from Brad Davis’s innovative ideas and his ability to collaborate with others, breaking down some of the greatest barriers facing current community college students while also opening up new opportunities for students and faculty. The citizens we serve throughout our District will benefit from his leadership.”  

Brad Davis, Current WVC President and future Chancellor
“I have been fortunate to be deeply immersed in our College and in our community. I can think of no higher calling than to serve our District while helping meet the educational, business, and community needs of a Silicon Valley. Our region desperately needs our West Valley and Mission College graduates in its quest to end socio-economic vulnerability and to  promote social equity.”

Mission College President Daniel Peck
"Brad Davis has a passion for this District and I have seen first-hand how he cultivates relationships to bring new opportunities for students and partnerships for the community. I would like to thank Chancellor Schmitt for his years of leadership.  We are in a good place and well-positioned to continue providing excellent educational opportunities for our students.”