APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – A familiar face is set to take the reins at Fox Valley Technical College.
The Board of Trustees announced Tuesday that Dr. Chris Matheny will take over as the college’s seventh president. The current executive vice president for instruction and chief academic officer has been with FVTC for the past seventeen years.
“I’ve had the opportunity to see the impact that the college has on the lives of our communities and our business partners that we serve, so it’s just really an honor a privilege to be able to continue to do that work,” Matheny told WTAQ News. “Looking forward to working really closely with our faculty and staff here. We have a really talented organization whose entire focus is getting up and running and ready for fall semester…Continue to keep our our foot down on the gas pedal with regard to providing a skilled and talented workforce our region.”
Matheny succeeds Dr. Susan May, who is retiring at the end of July after 38 years with the college – 13 of those as president.
“Dr. May has been just an incredible advocate for the work that education does to change lives. If I can accomplish half of what she’s accomplished in her career, that would be a wonderful legacy,” Matheny said. “I think what I take from her leadership is just a really strong dedication to the people and the work that we do, [and how it] actually impacts the lives of people dramatically over the course of their entire life.”
But for him, it’s more than just a job.
“As I’ve said to a lot of people, this is home,” Matheny said. “I get to have an impact on the community I love with the people that I love and love working with…Fox Valley Tech is, in my opinion, the crown jewel of the technical college system. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Matheny earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI; a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Organization and Management from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL; and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.
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