John Pickelman

Since his retirement in 2007 from the chancellor’s position of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District in Texas (renamed Lone Star College System), John Pickelman has remained professionally active in the higher education community, primarily assisting community colleges in the conduct of  executive searches at the president, provost, executive dean and CFO levels. He has also provided consulting services to institutional members of the national community college student success initiative, Achieving the Dream.  In recognition of his 16 years of service as chancellor, the NHMCCD Board of Trustees conferred upon him the title of chancellor emeritus.

Dr. Pickelman assumed the chancellor’s position following eight years of service as president of Galveston College (TX).  Prior to that appointment, he held several administrative positions with the Dallas County Community College District (TX), Texas Lutheran College and William Jewell College (MO).  When he retired, his career totaled forty years of service.

Dr. Pickelman has maintained a high level of involvement in professional and community organizations.  He served as both chairman of the Board of Trustees and vice chairman of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  He has chaired over twenty reaffirmation of accreditation and special visiting committees. At the state level, he served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Community Colleges.

He was a member of the boards of directors of the Greater Houston Partnership, the Galveston Chamber of Commerce (chair), the Houston 2012 Olympic Committee and the North Houston Association. He helped establish Leadership Galveston and Leadership North Houston.  The latter honored him with the establishment of The John Pickelman North Houston Leadership Fellow Award, given annually to a member of the community for outstanding leadership.

Dr. Pickelman has been honored by his alma mater, Albion College, with its Distinguished Alumni Award.  The international honor society for community colleges, Phi Theta Kappa, recognized him with the Michael Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award. SACS Commission on Colleges presented him with its James T. Rogers Meritorious Service Award.  He was named a Distinguished Graduate of the Community College Leadership Program of The University of Texas at Austin and was a recipient of its NISOD International Leadership Award.  The Association of Community College Trustees named him its Western Region CEO of the Year. 

Dr. Pickelman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Albion College; a Master of Arts degree in educational counseling from the University of Missouri at Kansas City; and the Ph.D. in educational administration (Community College Leadership) from The University of Texas at Austin.  He and his wife, Barbara, reside in Fort Worth, Texas.

jpick@agbsearch.com