Dr. Linda García
Dr. Linda García is the Executive Director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) at The University of Texas at Austin. Linda never imagined she would one day lead CCCSE. In fact, she never dreamed of earning a doctoral degree. As children, Linda and her siblings constantly heard from their parents—a father who grew up as a migrant worker and a mother who immigrated to the United States from Mexico—that enrolling in college after high school graduation was the only choice to pursue. Even though she aspired to rise to the ranks of her favorite journalist, Diane Sawyer, little did she know that people and situations along her journey would become “turning points” that prepared her to become a community college leader.
Prior to her current role, Linda served as the Assistant Director of College Relations at CCCSE. She was Vice President of Community College Relations at the Roueche Graduate Center at National American University, and she has worked at Lone Star College, Maricopa Community Colleges, and The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. Linda served as a coach for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Pathways 2.0 and continues in this same role for the Texas Pathways Project.
Linda is an award recipient of the Terry O’Banion Prize for Inspiring Significant change to Teaching and Learning by the League for Innovation. She was also awarded the College of Education’s Leadership Excellence Award by The University of Texas at Austin. She is also serves on the AACC Board of Directors, New Directions for Community Colleges Editorial Board, National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges (NACTC) Board, National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Board, Seal of Excelencia Advisory Council, Complete College America AI Council, and Texas Pathways Knowledge Development Steering Committee.
Linda earned a Bachelor of Journalism with a concentration in broadcast and a doctorate in higher education administration with a specialization in community college leadership from The University of Texas at Austin. Her Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies degree is from The University of Texas at Brownsville.