SJC Presidents
Dr. Neil Matkin, Central Campus President
Dr. Neil Matkin is the most recent addition to San Jacinto College and the Central campus. Dr. Matkin began his tenure as the Central campus president on August 7, 2008, replacing Dr. Monte Blue, who had been with the College for 37 years.
Dr. Matkin came to San Jacinto College from the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), where he was the vice chancellor for information technology services. As such, he served as the chief information officer for the statewide system of 23 community colleges located on 40 campuses throughout Virginia. He was responsible for information technology planning, provided direct leadership for a staff of 70, and worked closely with campus presidents, vice presidents of finance, chief information officers and others to provide guidance for all IT personnel.
Prior to his time at VCCS, Dr. Matkin was the chief administrative officer for the Illinois Century Network, a statewide education network under the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Prior to that he was the director of client services for the Network, where he was involved in spearheading its creation and garnering both legislative and funding support. He has also served as the co-director for the network, as well as senior associate director for information systems / policy analyst for the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Dr. Matkin has also held faculty positions at Ambassador University in Big Sandy, Texas.
As a first-generation college student, Dr. Matkin knows the transformational power that a community college can have on first-generation students, and he has used that first-hand experience when pursuing his career in higher education. He noted that his first college class was in a community college, “That introduction to the community college and the faculty dedicated to teaching and learning impressed me as a young adult and has remained a major factor in my decision to work with community colleges.”
Dr. Matkin holds a doctorate in higher education from Texas A&M University in Commerce; an MBA from the University of Dallas in Irving, with a specialty in information systems; a master’s degree in telecommunications management from Golden Gate University in Los Angeles; and bachelor and associate degrees in liberal arts / theology from Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, and Big Sandy, Texas, respectively.
Dr. Matkin and his wife, Janyth, have three children. Nathaniel (21), will be a senior majoring in mathematics at Virginia Tech; Aaron (19) plans to enroll in the culinary arts program at San Jacinto College; and Benjamin (17) will be a high school senior
Dr. Allatia Harris, North Campus President
Dr. Allatia Harris began her term as president of the North campus on July 14, 2008, replacing longtime campus president Dr. Charles Grant. Dr. Harris came to San Jacinto College after a long tenure at Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD), where she served in a variety of roles for over 30 years.
She left the multi-college DCCCD as the district director for academic curriculum initiatives where was responsible for the development, implementation, evaluation, quality management and marketing of the DCCCD Core Curriculum and Academic Programs.
Prior to that, she served as the interim vice president of instruction at the Eastfield College campus; district director for faculty development and core curriculum evaluation; and executive dean of arts and sciences, dean of communications and as a faculty member at the Mountain View College. She has also taught at the University of Southern California and University of North Texas, and in the graduate school at the University of Phoenix.
Dr. Harris has a passion for community colleges, which is evident from her long standing tenure with DCCCD, and says that the students, people, and the work that community colleges do, keeps her coming back. “We change lives, and we build communities that are stronger, both socially and economically,” noted Harris. “We make a difference.”
Even though she has held several different positions in administration, Dr. Harris says that her favorite has been that of professor. “I like having a positive impact on the people I am around,” she says.
Dr. Harris holds a doctorate in educational administration with a specialization in community college leadership from the University of Texas, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in speech communication both from the University of North Texas.
Dr. Harris and her husband, Wayne Dickerson, have an adult son Kris, and grandson Isaac.
Dr. Maureen Murphy, South Campus President
Maureen Murphy was named president of San Jacinto College South following 18 years of community college service in three states. As an English faculty member at St. Louis Community College at Meramec, Murphy thought she’d teach until retirement. An interim appointment as an academic dean at SLCC became a permanent appointment, thus beginning a career in administration.
Murphy came to San Jacinto College South in July 2007 from Rappahannock Community College in Virginia, where she was a vice president of instruction and student development. She previously held a similar position at Wytheville Community College, also in Virginia.
While at St. Louis Community College, Murphy was the administrative representative on the General Education Steering Committee, which coordinated process of changing General Education curriculum from a 39 hour distribution model to a 42 hour competency-based model. This program won the League for Innovation recognition in 2004 for Innovation of the Year.
While working in the Virginia Community College System, Murphy served on the team that articulated the first guaranteed admission agreement with Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Since that time, Murphy has articulated many agreements, including a Guaranteed Admission Agreement and a co-enrollment agreement between Rappahannock Community College and the College of William and Mary.
Murphy received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Louisville, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Saint Louis University.
A lifelong learner, Murphy enjoys reading, fine and performing arts of all types, and travel.
