Dr. Ken Atwater became the seventh president of Hillsborough Community College (HCC) on July 1, 2010. Founded in 1968, HCC is currently the fifth largest community college in Florida’s State College System, serving more than 42,000 students each year at its five campuses and three centers. HCC offers more than 200 academic programs, including 35 associate in arts degree pathways and almost 160 workforce programs, has an annual budget of over $180 million and employs more than 2,500. Over 84 percent of HCC graduates stay in the local community, and together, HCC and its former students contribute more than $1.3 billion in added income and economic impact to Hillsborough County.
Dr. Atwater is the Chair of the Foundation of the Tampa-Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), Jameis Winston Dream Forever Foundation and ZooTampa at Lowry Park. He also served as the Co-Chair of the Hillsborough County Economic Recovery Task Force’s Re-Employment Work Group and the American Association of Community College’s Apprenticeship Task Force.
Dr. Atwater earned his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, and Master and Bachelor of Science degrees from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.