At the prestigious American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) annual Awards of Excellence ceremony held recently in New York City, Dr. Curtis L. Ivery, Chancellor of Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD), was feted with the first-ever “CEO of the Year Award.” According to the AACC, the national inaugural award recognizes Ivery’s achievements and transformational leadership at WCCCD. The honor speaks to Ivery’s incredible accomplishments and professional contributions to the community college field and for modeling innovative and successful ways colleges can create meaningful impacts in individuals’ lives.
The AACC, founded in 1920, is known as “the voice of America’s community colleges.” The Washington, D.C. – based association represents and advocates for nearly 1,200 associate-degree granting institutions enrolling more than 12 million students.
“I am honored to be the first recipient of the CEO of the Year Award,” said Ivery. “It is always gratifying to be recognized by your peers, but for me, the CEO of the Year award provided important validation for my entire leadership team. For the past several years, the shared vision and mission of our team have kept us moving forward through the fog of the pandemic and the real hardship experienced by many of our students.”
While Ivery gives credit to his entire leadership team, the facts bear out that under Curtis’ leadership, WCCCD has grown exponentially. Since Ivery accepted WCCCD’s top executive position in 1995, WCCCD has morphed from 7,000 students to a multicampus cornerstone institution of higher education that serves more than 70,000 students annually across 32 cities and townships in Wayne County.
As the largest urban community college district in Michigan, Ivery has transformed WCCCD into an institution that provides more than 120 career and academic programs to its students and is a regional leader in workforce development and healthcare fields. WCCCD, founded in 1967, currently has six campuses. In addition to the Curtis L. Ivery Downtown Campus, other locations include the Downriver Campus, Eastern Campus, Northwest Campus, Ted Scott Campus, and the Mary Ellen Stempfle University Center.
“I am proud that we have grown to be a national example of a thriving college that is also deeply invested and interested in the success of our entire region,” Ivery said. “I am deeply proud that we have been able to create a strategic vision and plan that allowed our students, staff, and faculty, along with area partners and organizations, to see that we had everything here to be a vital institution that could make lives better.”
When Ivery began his tenure at WCCCD in 1995, he admits that he didn’t think 27 years later, he would still be its chancellor.
“I think the saying is, “when we make plans, God laughs,” Ivory said. “When I first arrived in Detroit, I did not know that I would be here nearly three decades later. But I knew that I could create positive change and that change was needed. What I felt then was excited, challenged, and completely intellectually and emotionally engaged with the college, with my team, and with the people that we serve. I still feel that today. So while I didn’t count the years, there has not been a time since arriving in Detroit when I haven’t felt that this was where I wanted to be. I’m blessed to have my wife, Ola, and my family, who have supported me every step of the way.”
When asked to reflect on how Detroit has evolved since arriving in the Motor City 27 years ago, Ivery said, “Detroit is one of the most remarkable cities in this nation. It has always been a bellwether for what is happening in other cities and metro areas. I think, too, there is a certain pragmatic grit that is associated with Detroiters – a resilience and “can do” spirit that persists through everything.”
For Ivery and WCCCD, the beat goes on to provide the best, most diverse, and highest levels of education while emphasizing occupational and career programs. AACC calls Ivery a transformational leader in higher education, which the chancellor embraces.
“I think of transformational leadership as a thoughtful approach that causes people to change but also causes the systems and circumstances they are operating in to change too,” Ivory said. “Transformational change doesn’t just ask people to do certain things; it asks them to change their view of what’s possible and excites them to drive that change together because they believe that what they’re doing will create positive change for everyone. That’s how entire systems change because people believe that they need to for themselves and others to live better lives.”
“Chancellor Ivery is a true transformational leader and an outstanding CEO, who is more than worthy of the CEO of the Year Award he just received, “ said Prof. James C. Mays, who teaches entrepreneurship and supply chain management at WCCCD’s Corporate College. “In his 27 years at WCCCD, Dr. Ivery has elevated WCCCD to become nationally recognized for excellence and innovation and preparing our students professionally and personally to do great things in the world.”
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