Regents announce two finalists in Amarillo College president search

The Amarillo College Board of Regents on Wednesday, April 3 voted unanimously in naming two finalists for the position of president.

The finalists are Dr. Andrew Bowne, who served as president and CEO of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan., 2020-2024; and Dr. Laura Boyer, currently vice president for academic success at Northeast Lakeview College in San Antonio’s Alamo Community College District.

Both finalists will be invited to interview at AC and within the community, tentatively during the week of April 15.

Regents selected the finalists from more than a dozen candidates that were initially recommended to AC’s presidential search advisory committee by Gold Hill Associates, a community college executive search firm retained by the College. AC’s search advisory committee conducted video conferences with six of the applicants and presented its finalist recommendations to the Board.

The search committee numbered 20 and was comprised of AC regents, faculty, staff and students, as well as some members of the community.

“The decision-making process was very difficult because we were presented with so many great applicants,” said AC Regent Paul Proffer, who chaired the presidential search advisory committee. “Gold Hill Associates brought us an extremely strong field of candidates who really fit our search criteria.”

“The committee worked hard, put in a lot of hours, and I appreciate everyone who served,” he said. “It will be really exciting to see which way we go from here.”

Amarillo College, which last April won the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement among America’s Community Colleges, began its presidential search last summer after then-AC President Russell Lowery-Hart was tabbed for the chancellorship of Austin Community College.

Until the next president is chosen, Denese Skinner, vice president of student affairs, will continue to serve as AC’s interim president.

Presidential Finalist bios

Dr. Andrew W. Bowne, Ed.D.,

Dr. Andrew W. Bowne, Ed.D., served as president and CEO of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan., a regional community college serving approximately 44,000 credit and non-credit students, 2020-2024. Previously, he served as senior vice president and CEO at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, Ind., from 2012-2020, and he was associate vice president for college advancement/executive director at Grand Rapids Community College (Mich.) from 2005-2012.

Dr. Bowne earned master’s and doctoral degrees in educational leadership in 1989 and 1999, respectively, from Western Michigan University. He was chosen to attend the Aspen Institute’s Aspen New Presidents Fellowship in 2022-23, and the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship in 2017-18.




Dr. Laura Boyer, Ed.D.,

Dr. Laura Boyer, Ed.D., is vice president for academic success at Northeast Lakeview College, a member of the Alamo Community College District that serves the Greater San Antonio metropolitan area. Prior to joining Northeast Lakeview College, Dr. Boyer was the dean of institutional research, effectiveness, and strategic planning at South Texas College, where she also served as associate dean for curriculum and student learning, and accreditation liaison.

Among her various leadership-development activities, she attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Institute for Higher Educational Management in 2023; and the American Association of Community Colleges Future Presidents Institute in 2022.

Dr. Boyer earned a doctor of education degree in educational leadership in 2016 from Lamar University, a master of education in adult education from Texas A&M University—Kingsville in 2004, and a bachelor’s degree in music and psychology from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., in 1994.