Deputy Chancellor & Provost Finalists

 

Dr. Marilyn Flores

Dr. Marilyn Flores is a distinguished educational leader, administrator, and advocate whose career spans more than 25 years in California’s Community College system. Dr. Flores leads with transparency and accountability, encouraging open communication and shared ownership of outcomes and values that include access, equity, student success, and community engagement. She emphasizes bridging institutional and community gaps, particularly for historically underserved populations. 

Dr. Marilyn Flores served as Superintendent/President of Río Hondo College from 2022 through 2025. During her leadership, student enrollment continued to increase post the pandemic as she continued to develop community-based partnerships, engage in philanthropic work, and cultivate an environment to ensure student equity, success and completion. In addition, she successfully established the College’s first Campus Police department and successfully assisted with passing a $442 million bond to support the College.

From July 2020 to December 2021, Dr. Marilyn Flores served as Interim President of Santa Ana College. Prior to serving as the Interim President, Flores served as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Santiago Canyon College since 2016. As Vice President of Academic Affairs at Santiago Canyon College, she oversaw four academic divisions with over 100 full time, over 200 part time faculty and approximately 25 classified staff.

She also served as the Chief Instructional Officer (CIO) and the Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO). Formerly, Dr. Flores held the position of Dean, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Library at Santiago Canyon College. Prior to joining the Rancho Santiago Community College District, she served as Dean, Arts, Letters and Social Sciences at Las Positas College, after holding various administrative positions at Riverside City College from 2004 to 2012.

As a seasoned educational leader she has worked in multiple educational settings, Dr. Flores has provided oversight of academic and student service programs and budgets, has overseen design, delivery, staffing, supervision, and evaluation of educational programs, and ensured compliance and recommended policy for instructional and support services. Her responsibilities have also included quality, integrity, and administration of instructional programs and coordinating and facilitating the development and implementation of redesigned and articulated curriculum.

Dr. Flores’ commitment to providing equitable and excellent educational opportunities for students is evident in her long-standing career in community college academia. She has been honored as Educator of the Year at the Inland Empire Hispanic Image Awards and received a Hispanic Border Leadership Institute Doctoral Fellowship at the University of

California, Riverside. She is a proud first-generation college student and second language learner who attributes her success to the educational system.

Dr. Flores earned a Ph.D. in Institutional Leadership and Policy Studies at University of California, Riverside. She earned a Master of Arts Degree in Education with a Bilingual Cross-Cultural Language in Academic Development (BCLAD) teaching credential at University of California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Education and Spanish from the University of California, Riverside.