The Governors State University Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet on April 24 and is expected to select Dr. Joyce Ester as the university’s seventh president.

According to an email from GovState’s Office of Communications, Ester has reached a tentative agreement to succeed Dr. Cheryl Green, who retired on March 1. Ester currently serves as President of Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, a position she has held since 2014.

With over 30 years of experience in higher education, Ester has worked in academic and student affairs, faculty and staff governance, and financial management. At Normandale Community College, she oversaw an 18 percent enrollment increase among students of color between 2015-2020. She also secured a $2 million lead gift for a new Interdisciplinary Professional Education program.

Ester holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Northern Illinois University. She also serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees for the Higher Learning Commission and is a Gallaudet University Board of Trustees member.

GovState Board Chair James Kvedaras expressed excitement about working with Ester. “As an alumnus and chairman of the Board of Trustees that leads Governors State University, I can say we are honored to begin a new chapter in the university’s history with the inspired leadership of Dr. Ester,” Kvedaras said.

Ester said she is honored to have been selected as the next president of GovState. “I look forward to joining this community who is dedicated to student success and whose core value of “deliberate university focus on student achievement of academic, professional and personal goals” resonates deeply with my own,” Ester said

Ester’s appointment is anticipated to begin on July 1,