2026 Commencement Speakers

Dr. DeRionne Pollard was named president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in July of 2025. Her passion for higher education has driven her leadership in several roles, most recently as the president of Nevada State University, Montgomery College (MD), and Las Positas College (CA).

Dr. Pollard’s career in higher education began in the classroom teaching English and she remains deeply committed to life-long learning for her students and herself. A student-centered ethos is at the core of her leadership and she is a champion for access, fairness, and opportunity for all. Throughout her career Dr. Pollards vision has been grounded in a belief that higher education is a pillar of economic mobility and community strength.

Dr. Pollard’s experience in the higher education sector is rich, having served on the American Association of Community Colleges’ 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges, the Commission on Academic, Student, and Community Development, and the Board of Directors. Dr. Pollard is a member of the National Board of Directors and Executive Committee for Generation Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the success of teen parents and parenting college students.

Dr. Pollard was named one of Washington’s 100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian Magazine, won a 2017 Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and a Visionary Award from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies in higher education from Loyola University Chicago.

Dr. Pollard is the first woman to be named president and CEO of AACC and now serves as the nation’s leading advocate for community colleges.

Brig. Gen. Scott Lee Meyers currently serves as the Assistant Adjutant General and Director of the Joint Staff for the Michigan National Guard. He’s commanded at the platoon, battery, battalion, brigade and installation levels.

Previous assignments include Director of Human Resources for the Michigan Army and Air National Guard, Director of Surface Maintenance, and Recruiting Commander. Meyers earned degrees from Lansing Community College and Western Michigan University, and later earned a master’s degree in strategic studies from the Air War College.

After graduating from Lansing Sexton High School, Meyers began his military career in 1989 with Basic Combat Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He then completed Aero-Scout Training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where he learned to fly and crew the OH-58 helicopter.

He continued his enlisted career for six years, attending the Primary Leadership Developmental Course, the Cold Weather Survival Course and numerous other military schools before attending the Federal Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1995.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, and numerous other citations and awards.

Meyers is married to the former Heather Ann Woods. They have a daughter, Reagann, who is a 2nd Lieutenant in the Michigan Army National Guard and is currently at Fort Rucker, Alabama, training to fly Army Chinook helicopters.