Current Highline Community College trustee Dr. Elizabeth Chen has been elected to a two-year term as the Pacific region director on the board of the Association of Community College Trustees.
Chen, of Federal Way, is past chairwoman of the HCC board of trustees.
The trustees association is a not-for-profit membership association composed of more than 6,500 publicly elected and appointed trustees serving on the 600 governing boards of community, junior and technical colleges in the United States, Canada and England.
Its mission is to promote effective board governance through advocacy and education.
A long-time advocate for higher education, Chen has served the trustees association as past president of the Asian Caucus and former chairwoman of the Diversity Committee.
In May 2006, she was named "Trustee of the Year" by Washington's Trustees Association of Community and Technical Colleges, which recognized her for more than 10 years of dedicated service to Highline and the state's higher education system.
"Dr. Chen has been an outstanding member of the Highline Community College Board," said Dr. Jack Bermingham, interim Highline president. "Her energy, enthusiasm and commitment to the mission of community colleges will serve her well in this new position."
Her contributions extend beyond the Highline campus. She has presented and facilitated sessions at national conferences. She has served as state association treasurer (2003-05) and has chaired Highline's Board of Trustees three times (2006-07, 2001-02 and 1997-98).
Outside of her duties as a trustee, she is an adviser to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.
With degrees in Statistics (M.S. and Ph.D., University of Wyoming), she is also an expert in Chinese language and culture. She has served as a translator and the college's representative on visits to China and Taiwan.
"Our community and state are indeed privileged to have an individual like Elizabeth Chen quietly devote such an admirable effort to community betterment," said Karen Vander Ark, chairwoman of the Highline Community College Board of Trustees.
