Dr. Omar Javier Torres is set to be named as De Anza College’s fifth president pending governing board approval by the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees at its Dec. 16 meeting.
Following a nationwide search, a committee made up of community members, faculty, administrators, staff and students recommended Torres as one of four finalists for the position.
“The feedback I received following Omar’s visit to the college and the recommendations from his current and past colleagues were overwhelmingly positive,” district chancellor Lee Lambert said in a message to district employees recommending Torres for the job. “Like you, I was impressed by his passion and enthusiasm as well as his commitment to equity and student success.”
Torres brings more than two decades of California community college experience to the job, including nine years in part-time and full-time faculty positions and 14 years in progressively responsible administrative roles.
In his current role as assistant superintendent/vice president of instruction at College of the Canyons in Southern California, which serves more than 25,000 students each year, Torres has overseen the initiation of career technical education and apprenticeship programs and a significant expansion of dual enrollment and noncredit courses and partnerships.
He has also worked to secure grants for apprenticeships, zero-cost textbooks and culturally responsive pedagogy as well as a $1 million state appropriation to fund a training lab and simulation equipment for the college’s health professions programs.
Prior to becoming vice president in 2020, Torres served three years as College of the Canyons’ associate vice president of instruction and its instructional dean of the School of Mathematics, Sciences and Health Professions.
Torres also serves as president of the California Community Colleges Chief Instructional Officers Association.
Torres is set to step into his role as De Anza College president on Jan. 3, 2025. His salary will be $311,713.64 per year, and his contract will run through June 2026. He takes over leadership from Christina Espinosa-Pieb, De Anza’s interim president since March 1.
“I look forward to assisting with the creation of new educational experiences that inspire 21st-century innovation and promote economic and social mobility for our students,” Torres said in a statement.
In his message to employees, Lambert noted that Torres wrote in his application, “De Anza College is an extraordinary institution full of hope and promise.”
“I could not agree more and am confident that under Omar’s leadership, that hope and promise will be fully realized,” Lambert said.
