Diane Stiles

Diane Stiles is the vice president of Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, South Dakota. She is passionate about changing lives and launching careers through technical education. Lake Area Tech won the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence in 2017 and the college is featured in national publications highlighting best practices for workforce development.

She is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the college and directly leads the areas of human resources, budgeting and finance, data, information technology, innovation, and grants. Previously, she worked at Northwest Kansas Technical College in roles that culminated in the assistant vice president for academic affairs as well as the executive director of Norton City/County Economic Development.

She earned a master of arts in education degree from Ottawa State University and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Fort Hays State University. Her experience included studying abroad at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China and internships at Zhong Sheng Law Firm and the Center for Civic Education.

She and her husband Asa are proud parents of three children, Henry, Charlie, and Clara.