Will Lewallen Email and Phone Number

Dr. Willard "Will" Clark Lewallen is a native Californian and a product of the California public education system where he graduated from Garey High School in Pomona. He completed a B.S. degree with honors at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona and was a member of the 1976 national championship baseball team. He was awarded a graduate teaching assistantship at Purdue University where he completed two master’s degrees. He completed a Ph.D. in education at UCLA.From 1979-1984 he served as an academic advisor at Purdue University. From 1984-1999 Dr. Lewallen served as a faculty member and as a dean at Antelope Valley College. From 1999-2007, Dr. Lewallen served as the vice president of student services at Victor Valley College (Victorville, CA). From 2007-2012 he served as president of West Hills College (Coalinga, CA). He served as the superintendent/president of the Hartnell Community College District (Salinas, CA), an Hispanic Serving Institution, from 2012-2019. He retired in October 2019. At Hartnell College he provided leadership that led to a 159% increase in degrees awarded, a 231% increase in certificates awarded, and a 63% increase in transfer. In 2017 Hartnell College was named as one of the top 100 producers of associate degrees for under-represented minority students and was ranked 9th of 1,400 community colleges in percentage of degrees awarded to under-represented minority students. During his tenure the number of local high school graduates attending increased by 54%. He provided leadership for a 5-year fund raising plan that exceeded its target by $30 million. In 2018, Hartnell was the recipient of what is thought to be the single largest gift to a community college when the Matsui family donated 215 acres of farmland valued at $20 million. Under his leadership in 2016 Hartnell College founded the first DREAMer Center in California (Mi CASA, Center for Achievement and Student Advancement), serving the needs of undocumented students. Hartnell College experienced a 300% increase (from 200 to over 800) in the number of undocumented students attending over a 7 year period. Additionally, he has served as an adjunct professor in graduate studies at two universities (Chapman University and University of La Verne) where he taught psychological assessment, statistics, and research/evaluation methods. He has firsthand experience teaching online classes.Dr. Lewallen's record of leadership, scholarship, achievement, accomplishment, community involvement, and service is documented in his curriculum vitae under "Featured."