Daniel Phelan

Dr. Daniel J. Phelan has served as President of Jackson College (JC) in Jackson, Michigan since April 2001. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Higher Education Administration from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. He earned a Master of Business Administration Degree from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration and an Associate in Arts degree in Liberal Arts from Mount St. Clare College in Clinton, Iowa.

Previously, Dr. Phelan served as the President of Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, Iowa. Prior to SCC, President Phelan served as the Executive Vice President of Educational and Student Services at Western Nebraska Community College, and as Executive Director of the Business & Industry Institute at Johnson County Community College, Kansas. He also served in numerous administrative posts including economic development, continuing education, off-campus centers, library industry training at North Iowa Area Community College.

He consults and teaches various courses in higher education, leadership, quality, and management, at several colleges and universities, at both graduate and undergraduate levels. A regular national presenter and an author of numerous professional articles, monographs, and essays, Dr. Phelan has been honored for his work in higher education and community service. He has concluded writing a book entitled, Unrelenting Change, Disruptive Innovation and Risk: Forging the Next Generation of Community Colleges, as part of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Leadership Series, and is due to be released late 2015.

Dr. Phelan is the Chair-Elect to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). He serves on the AACC Audit and Finance Committee, and is Co-Chair of Higher Education Act Reauthorization Committee for AACC. He previously served on the blue ribbon 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges, as part of its Implementation Steering Committee, and he also cochaired a Commission project team charged with redefining the community college role and mission. He has served previously on AACC’s Commission on Economic and Workforce Development, the Commission on Global Education, chaired the Commission on Communications and Marketing, and served on the joint AACC and the Association of Community College Trustees Board (ACCT) Committee on Public Policy/Government Relations. Dr. Phelan also served on the AACC committee assisting with the development of the Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA) in an effort to improve community college performance across the country (Jackson College served as a Beta test site for VFA implementation).