Paul Pai Named President Of Meramec College Campus

July 06, 2007

The St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees June 21 approved the appointment of Paul P. Pai, Ed.D., superintendent/president of Imperial Valley (Calif.) College, to the position of president at the Meramec campus. He begins work Aug. 1.

Pai, 58, will serve as the chief executive officer and educational leader at the campus.

“Meramec faces some challenges not uncommon to many other community colleges in the country – losing senior staff to retirement, enrollment management, increased accountability measures with decreasing public funding,” Pai said.

“I have devoted my entire adult life in advancing community college education. The staff and student representatives of the college and district leadership offered me a very enthusiastic welcome. I look forward to working with them to advance the college’s mission,” he continued.

At Imperial Valley College (IVC), Pai oversaw a budget of $45 million and more than 500 full- and part-time staff. Among his accomplishments as president, Pai led the college’s successful effort to pass a $58.6 million bond issue which will result in construction of a state-of-the-art science building and new facilities for applied sciences and technology.

Under his leadership IVC instituted a distance learning center, expanded career/technical education programs, enhanced 2+2 partnerships with other area universities, and developed a community-based college master plan.

Prior to his four-year period at IVC, Pai served as provost at Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur, Ga., for five and a half years.

He has held administrative posts at San Diego Mesa College, in the Houston Community College System; at Louisiana State University-Eunice, Denmark (S.C.) Technical College; and at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan. He also has taught at LSU-Eunice, Denmark Technical College, and the University of South Carolina.