Ivan Harrell

Ivan L. Harrell II serves as the president of Tacoma Community College (TCC). Having a passion for community college education, Dr. Harrell strives every day to lead a group of professionals in providing the best environment, programs, and services students need to complete their academic and career goals.

Prior to TCC, Dr. Harrell served as the executive vice president of academic and student affairs at Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC). Before GPTC, he served as the vice president of student success at Lone Star College-CyFair, dean of student services at Anne Arundel Community College, coordinator for student affairs at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, and assistant to the vice president at Tallahassee Community College.

Dr. Harrell has written or co-written a number of scholarly articles and book chapters. He has also served as a presenter at numerous local, regional, and national conferences and seminars. He is most proud of his work around improving the success of students of color, particularly Black men, first-generation college students, and students who come from traditionally marginalized backgrounds.

Dr. Harrell completed his Ph.D. at Florida State University, where he defended his award-winning dissertation, “Using Student Characteristics to Predict the Persistence of Community College Students Enrolled in Online Courses.” He holds a master’s of education from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University.

A native of Oberlin, Ohio, Dr. Harrell is a first-generation college student who began his career in community colleges at Tallahassee Community College. Inspired by the diverse, intelligent, and hard-working students he met at Tallahassee, Dr. Harrell decided to dedicate his career to advance the community college mission. His goal is to support as many community college students as possible in achieving their academic and career goals.