Dr. Misty M. Stroud serves as the Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs at San José City College, where she leads with a deep commitment to education as a driver of access, opportunity, and economic mobility. Her work focuses on advancing equity and inclusion while using data-informed strategies to remove structural barriers and create learning environments where all students can succeed.
Her career in higher education spans instructional and leadership roles at Pima Community College, Arkansas State University–Newport, and Morgan Community College. Since joining San José City College in 2020 as Dean of Math, Science, and Engineering, and later advancing to Interim Vice President, Dr. Stroud has led large-scale academic initiatives, statewide policy implementation, and grant-funded programs that expand opportunity and strengthen student pathways.
Dr. Stroud’s commitment to students is deeply personal. As a high school dropout, a single parent, and a woman pursuing a career in STEM, she navigated significant barriers that can make higher education difficult to access and nearly impossible to succeed in.
To help address these challenges, Dr. Stroud established two scholarships through the San José–Evergreen Community College District Foundation: the Women in STEM Scholarship and the Single Parent “Rising While Raising” Scholarship. These scholarships are designed to support students who face similar obstacles and to ensure that financial hardship does not prevent them from continuing their education.
“I created these scholarships because higher education was not built for someone like me. As a high school dropout, a single parent, and a woman in STEM, I experienced firsthand how financial, structural, and cultural barriers can push students out of the system. These scholarships are about removing those barriers and creating real access to education as a pathway to economic and social mobility, so students do not have to overcome the system in order to succeed within it.”
Through her leadership and philanthropy, Dr. Stroud continues to champion a vision of higher education that expands opportunity and empowers students to succeed.