Jeannie G. Kim, Ph.D., became President of Santiago Canyon College in January 2023. With over 36 years in higher education, she is a champion for equity, access, and student success, focusing on dismantling barriers for underserved communities. She has held key leadership roles in public and private institutions, including UC, CSU, and community colleges. An expert in strategic planning, change management, organizational development, and high-impact practices, Dr. Kim is also a global keynote speaker on education and innovation. Her work has shaped policy at state and federal levels and includes advisory roles with Stanford Research Institute’s Innovation 4 Jobs (I4J) Think Tank, Education Advisory Board’s student success platform, CenturyTech, Inc - AI supported personalized learning platform now in 80+ countries, and GainX Global.

Dr. Kim has a deeper understanding of the tech world having studied machine learning for application in her tech start-up in 2015 and as part of her doctoral work at Claremont Graduate University where she earned her Ph.D. in Education Policy, Evaluation, and Reform.

Dr. Kim is an applied cultural anthropologist with degrees from UCLA (BA) and California State University, Fullerton (MA). An immigrant from South Korea and a survivor of both personal trauma and cancer, she brings resilience, vision, and a deeply human perspective to institutional transformation. Currently, her work centers on advancing education through human-centered artificial intelligence, ensuring that innovation is always in service of people, equity, and community.