Ivy Tech State Board of Trustees select Dr. Sue Ellspermann as Community College’s Next President

INDIANAPOLIS — The State Board of Trustees of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana has appointed Dr. Sue Ellspermann as the next president of the state’s Community College system.

With more than 30 years of experience in higher education, economic and workforce development, and public service, Ellspermann will be the ninth individual to hold the position and the first female president in the Community College’s 53 years.  She replaces Thomas J. Snyder who announced his retirement in September of 2015 after serving as President since 2007.  Ellspermann will assume the role of President on July 1.

“This is a big job and it is crucial to the future of not just Ivy Tech, but, in many ways, the state.  We are very cognizant of the role Ivy Tech plays in the economic future of Indiana,” Ivy Tech State Board of Trustee Chair Paula Hughes said. “Sue brings the right mix of experience in different areas, from higher education to public service to workforce and economic development.  She is someone who has demonstrated the ability to cast a strategic vision and collaboratively lead and work with a diverse group of stakeholders.”

Ellspermann most recently served as Indiana’s 50th Lieutenant Governor from 2013 until March of this year.  She served as President of the Senate and Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as well as oversaw six agencies including Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Indiana Office of Tourism, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Office of Community and Rural Affairs, and Office of Defense Development.  She served as the co-chair for the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Infrastructure and the Rural Broadband Working Group and led agriculture trade missions to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China.

Being named president of the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system marks a return to higher education for Ellspermann.  From 2006 to 2012 she served as the founding Director of the Center of Applied Research and Economic Development at the University of Southern Indiana (USI).  She also has classroom experience teaching at USI, University of Evansville and University of Louisville.

In her role with the Center of Applied Research and Economic Development at the University of Southern Indiana she engaged faculty, staff and students in applied research and consulting in more than 200 different projects to impact economic development in southwest Indiana, the state and region.  With her background in industrial engineering, she also assisted the department of engineering through accreditation and developing industrial engineering curriculum.  She also helped launch and later facilitate the college’s strategic planning process during her six years at USI.

Ellspermann’s educational and workforce development experience is extensive.  As Lieutenant Governor she was vice chair of the Indiana Career Council tasked to align Indiana’s education and workforce development system to meet the needs of employers.

“It is critical that we align our programs at Ivy Tech to the needs of employers, and attract sufficient numbers of students and incumbent workers into high demand programs that offer stackable, efficient certifications, certificates and degrees.  We must ensure students persist, successfully transfer, graduate and complete, and, most importantly, that our students gain employment and upward mobility in their careers,” Ellspermann said.

As the chair of the Pathways and Implementation Committee Ellspermann helped lead efforts on a strategic plan that aligns K-12, higher education and workforce development efforts to employer needs.  She also served on the State Workforce Investment Council, an organization charged with developing opportunities for Hoosiers to gain employment and earn competitive wages, as well as developing and implementing workforce solutions based on the input of representatives of local workforce development boards.  In 2016, Ellspermann accepted a nonpartisan fellowship with the new Hunt-Kean Institute which brings together reform-oriented state leaders to study best practices and policy in education and workforce.

In 2010 Ellspermann was elected as the State Representative for District 74 (portion of Dubois, Spencer, Perry and Warrick counties).  While in office she served as the Vice-Chair of the Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee, as well as served on the Small Business, Commerce and Economic Development Committee and the Elections and Reapportionment Committee.  She was nominated for and participated in the 2011 Emerging Leaders Program at the University of Virginia focused on developing the next generation of leaders in state legislators.  She served one term during the 2011-12 legislative session before running for Lieutenant Governor in 2012.

The 20 years prior to joining the University of Southern Indiana, she owned and operated Ellspermann and Associates, Inc., d/b/a Basadur Applied Creativity, an independent consulting firm licensed in the training and facilitation of Simplex Creative Problem Solving.  Her clients included Kimball International, Microsoft, Mead Johnson and numerous small businesses and non-profit organizations.  She was the first associate of Dr. Min Basadur, founder of Simplex Creative Problem Solving, and achieved the highest level as Master Simplex Consultant.

Early in her career she spent time with Frito-Lay in Dallas, Texas.  During her tenure at Frito-Lay, Ellspermann served as a production and shipping supervisor and plant industrial engineer followed by a promotion as a corporate industrial engineer where she was responsible for corporate productivity initiatives.  She also spent time at Michelin Tire Corporation in Greenville, S.C., where she completed an extensive industrial engineering program including pace rating, plant layout, work design and material handling.

Ellspermann holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of Louisville in Industrial Engineering.  She conducted quantitative research on problem formulation within unstructured problem solving with dissertation titled, “The Impact of Creative Thinking Training and Problem Structuring Heuristics on the Formulation of Ill-Structured Problems.” Her dissertation was recognized by Emerald Management Reviews as one of the top 50 articles published in 2007.

Her thesis was titled, “Implementation of Creative Problem Solving Technology in the Business Organization” utilizing case studies toward the development of a prescriptive model for implementation.  She holds a B.S. from Purdue University also in Industrial Engineering. While at Purdue she completed the cooperative engineering program with AC Spark Plug, a division of General Motors in Flint, Mich., and served as a residence hall counselor and teaching assistant.

Ellspermann has published research and reports on various topics including workforce development, innovation, and problem solving.

She is highly engaged in the community and was recently named to the OneAmerica board of directors.  She also serves as Indiana Honorary Chair of the Million Women Mentors, Advisory Board of the Indiana Conference for Women, and has served on numerous committees and nonprofit boards, including the Evansville Chamber of Commerce Board and Executive Committee, Diocese of Evansville Strategic Planning Committee, Indiana HomeTown Competitiveness Steering Committee, Tri-County YMCA Capital Campaign Advisory Board, Little Sisters of the Poor Advisory Board, and Good Shepherd Catholic Church Pastoral Council.

She is married to James Mehling, a principal at Forest Park Junior-Senior High School.  She has a blended family of four daughters, three sons-in-law, two grandsons and two granddaughters.

Ivy Tech Community College is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system.  Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.

Ivy Tech Presidents

1963-1968                             Operated without a President

1966-1968                             Frederic M. Hadley

Oct. 1968-Feb. 1969            Glenn Sample

1969-1972                              Harry A. McGuff

1972-1975                              W. Dwight Renner

1975-1980                              Glenn Sample

1980                                        John Barnett (interim)

1980-1982                             Myron M. Eicher

1982                                        John Barnett (acting)

1983-2007                             Gerald I. Lamkin

2007-2016                             Thomas J. Snyder

2016 –                                      Sue Ellspermann