Marcia Ballinger, Ph. D., has over 30 years in community college leadership roles advancing student success, workforce and economic development, strategic planning, and institutional advancement.  She holds a Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from Walden University, an MBA from Kent State University, and a BA in Journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She serves as Lorain County Community College’s (LCCC) fifth president and previously held positions as Provost, Vice President for Strategic Development, and Vice President LCCC’s Foundation. Dr. Ballinger’s fundamental belief that “Every Student’s Dream Matters,” is at the core of LCCC’s Culture of Care. Her unwavering commitment to equity and student success has led to significant reductions in educational achievement gaps – especially for underserved students.  She is an inaugural member of the Aspen Institute’s Presidential Fellowship. Through Dr. Ballinger’s strategic vision, the College became the first community college in Ohio to offer an applied bachelor’s degree program in MEMS (Micro Electromechanical Systems) in 2018, and then a second applied bachelor’s degree in Smart Industrial Automation and Technology in 2021.  Under her leadership LCCC garnered the top two national honors for excellence in student success awarded by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) as “First in the Nation for Excellence in Student Success” in 2018 and by Achieving the Dream, Inc. (ATD) as the Leah Meyer Austin Award recipient in 2020. ATD also recertified LCCC’s status as a College Leader of Distinction again in 2022.

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