SANTA CLARA, Calif.-- Mission College in Santa Clara has appointed Dr. Norma Ambriz-Galaviz as its interim President for the 2022 Spring semester. Ambriz-Galaviz is no stranger to Mission College, having served as the Vice President of Instruction at the College from 2008-13. Ambriz-Galaviz will start in February.
Ambriz-Galaviz has over three decades of experience at the community college level, rising to President and Vice-Chancellor in her career.
Ambriz-Galaviz takes over for Daniel Peck, Mission's longest-serving President, who rmoved to Connecticut to be closer to family on the East Coast.
Prior to Mission, Ambriz-Galaviz spent 17 years at Chabot College (1991-2008) in a variety of roles including as a psychology instructor, counselor, and dean. Ambriz-Galaviz served as President of Merritt College and Vice-Chancellor of the Peralta Community College District starting in 2013. She was also interim Vice President of Instruction at Contra Costa College (2019), and interim President at San Jose City College (2018).
Ambriz-Galaviz earned her Ph.d. from the University of LaVerne in 2008 in Organizational Leadership and is a graduate of San Diego State.
Ambriz-Galaviz was the first in her family to graduate from college and was raised in the Salinas Valley, where she attended Hartnell College before transferring to SDSU. Her husband, Felix Galaviz, is the co-founder of the Puente Project, of which Mission College has a chapter.
A permanent replacement for President is currently on-going as part of a nationwide search.