Dr. Gwendolyn Stephenson serves as the President of Hillsborough Community College. She has served in
this capacity since August 1997. As the chief academic and executive officer of HCC, Dr. Stephenson
oversees an institution with four campuses: Brandon, Dale Mabry, Plant City, and Ybor City, that serves
more than 42,000 credit and non-credit students annually. Hillsborough Community College employs more
than 2,278 full and part-time employees and is supported by an annual budget (’06-’07) of $182.3 million.
Under Dr. Stephenson’s leadership, HCC has seen unprecedented enrollment growth. With a renewed
commitment to enhanced Student Services, a concentration on creating student-centered, state-of-the-art
learning environments, and a new understanding and focus in meeting the needs of Tampa Bay’s business
community, the College has experienced a 41% increase in FTE. This enrollment growth has helped lead to
the development of the College’s fifth campus in southern Hillsborough County, the new SouthShore Campus
slated to open in 2007.
The College has demonstrated its commitment to hiring the best and brightest from across the country
and to offering training opportunities to existing faculty, staff and administration to ensure that the
College remains on the cutting edge.
Dr. Stephenson also reorganized the College to make more efficient use of its resources. Helping to
ensure the wise use of precious taxpayer’s dollars, Dr. Stephenson has worked diligently to create unique
partnerships and to collaborate with other public entities like the K-12 system, University of South
Florida, other not-for-profits and the private sector to create synergy among systems while engaging in
the thoughtful and productive exchange of ideas. Dr. Stephenson has also sought private funding to
support the enhancement of College programs. Under her presidency, assets of the HCC Foundation have
more than doubled along with a similar increase in contributions.
Prior to coming to HCC, Dr. Stephenson served in a similar role as the Chancellor of St. Louis
Community College. St. Louis Community College served an enrollment of over 120,000 credit and non-credit
students and had an annual budget of $108 million.
Dr. Stephenson earned her Doctorate in Education with a minor in Research Methodology from St. Louis
University where she also received her Masters Degree in Counselor Education. She earned her Bachelors
Degree in Education from Harris Teachers’ College and holds a Management Certificate from Harvard
University.