ECC President David Sam celebrates 10 years of success, exceptional leadership
David Sam, Ph.D., JD, LLM, began his tenure as the eighth president of Elgin Community College on Feb. 12, 2007. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the institution.
A native of Ghana, West Africa, Dr. Sam has outstanding professional career experience including, a previous appointment as president of North Harris College in Houston, Texas, where he was responsible for one of the five colleges and two satellite centers in the Lone Star College System, formerly known as North Harris Montgomery Community College District. Prior to his presidency in Houston, he was dean of the community and technical college as well as a professor of social science and business management at the University of Akron, Ohio.
He previously served as vice president for faculty and instruction at Harrisburg Area Community College in Pennsylvania, as well as both acting vice president for academic affairs and dean of natural and social sciences at Mott Community College in Michigan. Additionally, Dr. Sam has held professional and teaching positions at College of DuPage and Harold Washington College, both in Illinois.
Dr. Sam is student-focused and believes in the transformational power of education to enhance and change lives. In his role as ECC president over the past 10 years, he has worked collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to establish a standard of academic excellence to help fulfill the college's mission to improve people's lives through learning. His efforts have repositioned the college from a respected community institution into a nationally known incubator of innovation among two-year, postsecondary institutions.
He is currently a member of many community organizations, including the board of directors of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, the Golden Corridor Family YMCA, and United Way of Elgin, as well as a member of Rotary Club of Elgin. He is also a member of the District of Columbia Bar, American Bar Association. Sam and his wife, Julie, have two children.
Below is a list of accomplishments and recognition under his leadership:
• April 7, 2009: Taxpayers approve, by 35 votes, an ECC bond referendum for a $178 million expansion that increases the college's size by about one-third.
• November 2012: Achieving the Dream names ECC a Leader College, becoming one of only 66 institutions nationally at the time to earn this significant recognition for its work raising persistence and completion rates and closing achievement gaps.
• January 2013: ECC receives the Bellwether Award from The Community College Futures Assembly in the Instructional Programs and Services category for its Alliance for College Readiness initiative.
• July 2013: The National Association of College and Business Officers recognizes ECC with the 2013 Innovation Award for its financial literacy program.
• January 2014: The Aspen Institute names ECC to the nation's Top 150 for Community College Excellence list for community college excellence.
• October 24, 2014: The Association of Community College Trustees recognizes ECC with the Central Regional Equity Award, which recognize the tremendous contributions made by trustees, equity programs, chief executive officers, faculty members, and professional board staff.
• December 2014: ECC received the 2014 Central Regional Equity Award from the Association of Community College Trustees.
• May 2015: From summer 2014 through spring 2015, ECC awarded a record-breaking number of 2,578 degrees and certificates.
• June 2015: ECC received accolades for its financial literacy programs from the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, an advisory group to President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary Jacob J. Lew. Similar recognition was also included in the final report form the U.S. Financial Literacy and Education Commission.
• September 2015: The success of ECC's annual United Way giving campaign earned the college United Way of Elgin's Jack Shales Spirit of Community Award.
• September 2015: Representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation visited ECC to learn more about ECC's student success efforts, with special interest in the college's efforts to help narrow the achievement gap for Latino students.
• October 2015: Reflejos Bilingual Journal honored ECC with the Reflejos Reflecting Excellence Award in recognition of the college's Accelerating Opportunity program (now known as ICAPS).
• October 2015: The Illinois Emergency Management Agency designated ECC as a "Ready to Respond" campus after the ECC Police Department successfully met rigorous safety criteria.
• February 2016: ACT selected ECC as the National Exemplar in Career Preparedness. The honor was announced at ACT's national gala in Washington, D.C.
• March 2016: The Illinois Community College Trustees Association honored ECC President David Sam with the 2016 Gary W. Davis Ethical Leadership Award.
• June 2016: Dr. Sam received the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from The Elgin Cosmopolitan Club
• November 2016: ECC was named a Bellwether finalist for its "Integrated Career and Academic Preparation System (ICAPS) program - "A Story of Success, Sustainability, and Scale" in the Planning, Governance & Finance (PGF) category.