Vermilion – Alice Wainwright-Stewart quit acting as president of Lakeland College when the position officially became hers on May 4.
Lakeland College Board of Governors appointed her president and chief executive officer of the collage, a position she excelled at on an interim basis during a six month executive search for a new leader.
“It’s a tremendous honour for me to be named the president of Lakeland College. I look forward to working with our board, employees, students, alumni, the communities we’re connected to, and our many partners to help Lakeland College thrive,” said Wainwright-Stewart in a statement.
The search for a new leader began following the resignation of past president Tracy Edwards on Oct. 27, 2014.
Wainwright-Stewart was one of more than 30 people who applied for the position with the Lakeland search firm completing in depth interviews with 13 candidates.
The board’s search committee interviewed four candidates before choosing Wainwright-Stewart to lead the Vermilion and Lloydminster campuses.
“We wanted to be absolutely certain that we chose the best person available, and I am confident that we have done that,” said Darrel Howell, chair of the board of governors.
He praised Wainwright-Stewart’s record of more than 30 years of experience and her demonstrated success at Lakeland College, her passion for the college and her performance as interim president.
“Alice is a very proactive person and a collaborative leader. I believe that we will have many successful years ahead of us under her leadership,” added Howell.
Wainwright-Stewart was hired by Lakeland in the early 1980s as a sessional instructor, teaching evening classes in the early childhood development program.
In 1985, she became chair of the program. Within the next 10 years she became chair of three additional programs and then took on the dual role of dean and chair of the human services programs.
In 1998, she created the School of Health and Human Services and guided its growth to 10 programs.
Wainwright-Stewart has served as the vice president, academic at Lakeland since 2005.
During her tenure as a vice president, the college became actively involved in applied research and added a number of new programs including heavy oil power engineering, renewable energy and conservation, street rod technologies, western ranch and cow horse, and sign language interpretation.
At this time in her career the college increased enrolment, retrofitted the Trades Centre mezzanine at the Vermilion campus to accommodate more students, and completed the construction of the Energy Centre at the Lloydminster campus.
Currently, Wainwright-Stewart is working on a doctorate in higher education from the University of Liverpool in England and has successfully completed all course work.
She is now in the research phase of the program and expects to complete her doctorate in 2016.
Wainwright-Stewart attended California State University of Northridge where she earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a teaching certificate, and a master’s in early childhood education.
