Dr. Brenda Hellyer to speak on March 23

Brenda Hellyer is San Jacinto College’s fifth chancellor and the first woman to hold that office.  She began her career at the College as an inaugural director of the San Jacinto College Foundation. In 2000, she was appointed Executive Vice President for Resource Development and in 2003 Vice Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs. She served as chief financial officer for five years and then served as Executive Vice Chancellor,

Established in 1961, San Jacinto College celebrates its 50^th year of service to east Harris County this year and is the seventh largest community college in Texas, serving more than 30,000 credit students at three campuses and several extension centers. Hellyer’s leadership and vision have been instrumental in developing a performance management system for staff and faculty, based on key performance indicators for every employee that focus on the College’s annual goals and student success. Hellyer was also instrumental in the development of a facility master plan, college recovery efforts after Hurricane Ike, and reaccreditation of the college in November 2008. Her leadership also led to an Achieving the Dream Leader College status in September 2011. San Jacinto College is one of only 52 community colleges in the nation to achieve this status.

Prior to joining SJC, Hellyer worked in the corporate world as an accountant in both the private and public arena.  Her experience ranged from mom and pop businesses to Fortune 500 companies to governmental agencies to entrepreneurial ventures in East Harris County. She holds a B.S. in Accounting from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, a MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and an Ed.D. in Community College Leadership from the University of Texas at Austin. She received the Distinguished Graduate Award from the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin in Spring 2009.