Frances Villagran-Glover

2022-23 Aspen New Presidents Fellow
Dr. Frances Villagran-Glover was appointed president for Houston Community College Southeast in October 2021. Among community colleges in the nation, HCC is ranked first in providing associate degrees to minorities and first in educating international students. The college boasts a total student population of 69,000 degree-seeking students. Villagran-Glover has worked in higher education for over 25 years and has had a career in education spanning across six states—working in K-12, community colleges and higher education national associations.

As a first-generation college graduate, she has a profound commitment to educational opportunity and equity for all. Throughout her career, Villagran-Glover has worked to improve student pathways into higher education and to provide students the tools necessary to accomplish their educational, professional, and personal goals. In recent years, she has participated in national policy and community efforts focused on tackling basic student needs and barriers to student success.

Villagran-Glover received her bachelor’s in community health education from Texas A&M University, her master’s in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University and a doctorate of education in community college leadership from George Mason University. She is a Class of 2014 National Community College Hispanic Council Leadership Fellow, Leadership Houston Fellow, and she currently serves on the Advisory Board for Houston’s Baker Ripley-Harbach campus. Villagran-Glover was also selected to represent HCC as part of Excelencia in Education Presidents for Student Success. She also serves on the AACC Commission on Institutional Infrastructure and Transformation and is on the Advisory Board of the Higher Education Research and Development Institute.

Villagran-Glover is a native Texan who is married to Robert Glover, retired USMC Lt. Colonel. While Villagran-Glover has played many leadership roles in her career, she considers her greatest role to be that of mother to seven children whom she fondly calls the A-Team. She is also a proud grandmother of three.

In her spare time, Villagran-Glover enjoys hiking, flying, and volunteering in her community. Her motto is “find a way or make one”.