After serving in the U.S. Army for six years, Patricia Pfeiffer graduated from Wayne Community College in 1988 with an associate degree in nursing. In 1994, Pfeiffer began her career at the college as a nursing instructor. And in 2022, after holding several college leadership roles, she became the school's president.

Pfeiffer believes her story is one of many that showcases the opportunity community colleges have to change lives, particularly in rural parts of the state like Wayne County. But more resources are needed to make that happen, say education watchers.

Photo: Adam Cairns

Chris Dennis, an associate professor of supply chain management at Columbus State Community College, clicked through his PowerPoint slides to a promotional video of gas distribution systems and pressed play. He isn't trying to sell his class on anything. Rather, he wants them to be prepared.

Dennis is one of several professors teaching the first official cohort of Columbus State students who hope to land jobs at Intel's $20-billion microchip manufacturing plants in Licking County.

Sian Leah Beilock is a cognitive scientist. She's also the new president of Dartmouth College, the first woman to hold that position since the school's founding in 1769. 

An expert in, among other things, the effect of stress on academic performance, she is starting her tenure by putting health and wellness at the center of her leadership agenda with a focus on the country’s youth mental health crisis.