Dr. Linda Thor, President of Rio Salado College, Tempe, Arizona

Rio Salado College
2323 W. 14th St.
Tempe, AZ 85281-6950
linda.thor@riosalado.edu

Dr. Linda M. Thor is President of Rio Salado College, Tempe, Arizona. Rio Salado, which serves some 48,000 credit and 12,000 non-credit students annually, is the largest in enrollment of the ten colleges that comprise the Maricopa Community Colleges in greater Phoenix. Rio Salado is a "college without walls" that specializes in serving working adults through distance learning, customized degrees with corporations and government, and accelerated programs such as dual enrollment for able and ambitious high school students. It has attracted national attention for its exemplary and award-winning programs, such as online post-baccalaureate teacher preparation, online nursing, accelerated dental hygiene and online clinical dental assisting, adult literacy, Sun Sounds Radio Reading Service, KJZZ-FM and KBAQ-FM public radio, and its prison programs. It has provided leadership in the implementation of successful business practices in community colleges and was the recipient of the Arizona Governor's Award for Quality/1993 Pioneer.

Prior to joining Rio Salado in the Fall 1990, Dr. Thor was President of West Los Angeles College (WLAC), a 10,000-student community college located in Culver City, California. During her four-year tenure at WLAC she obtained state funding for several major capital construction projects, saw the enrollment increase 48 percent, and introduced a number of new and innovative programs.

Dr. Thor,s appointment as WLAC President in March 1986 followed a successful tenure as the Senior Director of Occupational and Technical Education for the Los Angeles Community College District where she administered over $20 million in technical training programs under federal and state grants. Earlier she served as Director of High Technology Centers and Services. For six years Dr. Thor was the Director of Communications Services for the nine-college district. Prior to joining the LACCD in 1974 as a Public Information Officer, she was Director of Public Information for the Pepperdine University School of Continuing Education.

She has served as adjunct faculty for the UCLA School of Education, Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology, and Rio Salado College. She currently teaches for Northern Arizona University.

A frequent speaker and author, Dr. Thor serves on the boards of the Community College Baccalaureate Association, Arizona Town Hall, the Friends of Public Radio Arizona, Nana's Children Mental Health Foundation, Arizona Quality Alliance and the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation. She is a member of the Executive Council of WCET. She is Past-President of the Arizona Community College Presidents Council, Past-President of the Continuous Quality Improvement Network for Community and Technical Colleges, Past Chair of the Board of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, and past member of the Arizona Governor's Advisory Council on Quality.

She received the B.A. degree in journalism from Pepperdine University, the Master of Public Administration degree from California State University, Los Angeles, and the Doctor of Education degree in Community College Administration from Pepperdine University.

She has been recognized by Pepperdine University with the "Alumni Medal of Honor" and the "Delores" Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education and by California State University, Los Angeles with the Distinguished Alumna Award from the College of Natural and Social Sciences. In 1988 Dr. Thor was named "Woman of the Year" by the Culver City Business and Professional Women and in 1989 received the "Outstanding Achievement Award" from the Women's Business Network (Los Angeles). In 1998 Dr. Thor was named "Pacesetter of the Year" by the National Council on Marketing and Public Relations, Region VI, and in 2000 received the Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction for CEO's from Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. In 2003 she received the Paul A. Elsner Excellence in Leadership Award from the Chair Academy and in 2007 the Pioneer Award from the Community College Baccalaureate Association.