GTCC Selects Dr. Gordon Burns as Interim President, Pending N.C. State Board Approval

Dr. Gordon Burns has been selected by Guilford Technical Community College Board of Trustees to serve as interim president. Pending approval by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges, he will assume the office effective Aug. 1, 2019.

JAMESTOWN, N.C. – Guilford Technical Community College Board of Trustees has selected Dr. Gordon Burns to serve as interim president. Pending final approval from the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges, Dr. Burns will assume the office effective Aug. 1 and fill the position until a new president is hired.

"Dr. Burns brings extensive knowledge and experience of community colleges and he understands GTCC. We are grateful and fortunate that he is available to lead the college during this interim period," said GTCC Board of Trustees Chair George Ragsdale.

Dr. Burns’ career spans 46 years beginning with teaching full-time in public school settings while enrolled in graduate studies. He has served 36 years in the North Carolina Community College System beginning at Wilson Community College where he served as dean of continuing education and vice president of instruction, then Lenoir Community College as executive vice president, and retired as president of Wilkes Community College where he served for 18 years.

Following retirement, he served as interim president of Vance-Granville Community College in 2018-2019. GTCC will be his fifth community college home in North Carolina and the role is one he says he is humbled and honored to serve.

“The ultimate compliment at the end of the period would be that we didn’t miss a beat and that the college continued on its planned journey,” shared Burns who describes his management style as “participatory.”

“I like to engage the trustees, staff, faculty and students in the life of the college, the decisions that are made, the planning that is done and the execution of those plans,” he said. “I can honestly say that much of what was accomplished in my career was not accomplished by me. It was accomplished by the people with whom I worked as team members.”

Originally from Pennsylvania, Dr. Burns received his bachelor’s of science from Eastern Kentucky University and went on to the University of Missouri-Columbia where he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in industrial education with support areas in educational administration and industrial management.

The search for GTCC’s eighth president began earlier this year when GTCC President Dr. Randy Parker announced his retirement effective July 31, 2019. Dr. Parker has served as president since 2011.

The college’s Presidential Search Committee has selected three finalists to be presented to and interviewed by the Board of Trustees for the next president of GTCC. The college anticipates announcing the next president in mid to late August.