Terrence Leas (born 1950) is a retired American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. Leas most recently served as president of

Big Bend Community College Big Bend Community College (BBCC) is a public community college in Moses Lake, Washington. History Big Bend Community College was authorized by the Washington State Board of Education in 1961. Beginning fall quarter 1962 BBCC held its first r ...

Moses Lake, Washington Moses Lake is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,146 as of the 2020 census. Moses Lake is the largest city in Grant County. The city anchors the Moses Lake Micropolitan area, which includes all of Grant Co ...

from 2012 to 2020. Leas is an advocate of "asynchroncity", an approach to education that "dismisses the longstanding model of teachers lecturing in a fixed place and time while students listen".

Education

Leas received his undergraduate education from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

(FSU), where he earned a bachelor's degree (B.A.) in social science education in 1972. Leas has spoken about his negative experience registering for classes on his first day at FSU, which he credits with inspiring him to reform the education system:

"We got a pack of IBM cards and lined up in the gym for registration... I saw a girl sitting under the table, crying, and within an hour, I felt the same."

Leas went on to receive his master's degree in educational administration from

Valdosta State College Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia. It is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia. , VSU had over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. VSU a ...

(now

Valdosta State University Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia. It is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia. , VSU had over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. VSU a ...

) in 1981. Leas would return to FSU to receive his doctorate in higher education administration in 1989.

Career

Leas began his career as a middle school science teacher. A member of the Education Law Association since 1989, Dr. Leas has served on its board and as its President in 2000. He earned ELA's Dissertation of the Year award in 1990 and received the M.A. McGhehey award in 2010. As an academic, Leas notably contributed to 'A Legal History of Desegregation in Higher Education' (1994), which chronicled the

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

of American colleges. From 1990 to 2003, Leas served as a dean at

Yakima Valley Community College Yakima Valley College (YVC) is a public college in Yakima, Washington. It was founded as Yakima Valley Community College in 1928 with Elizabeth Prior serving as the institution's first president. The college offers five Bachelor of Applied Scienc ...

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

. He left this position in 2003 to become president of

Riverland Community College Riverland Community College is a public community college with three campuses in southeastern Minnesota: Albert Lea, Austin, and Owatonna. Founded in 1940, Riverland offers a variety of educational programs and courses to over 4,900 students ann ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. While at Riverland, Leas became a member of the

American Association of Community Colleges The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), headquartered in the National Center for Higher Education building in Washington, D.C., is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely with d ...

' (AACC) Committee on Global Education in 2008. In 2012, Leas became the ninth president of Big Bend Community College, and would serve in this position until his retirement in 2020. Leas cited the need to care for his 97 year-old mother as a reason for his retirement Leas is a noted advocate of "asynchroncity", an approach to education that "dismisses the longstanding model of teachers lecturing in a fixed place and time while students listen".

Personal life

Leas is married to Loyal Leas, an English teacher. The pair have two daughters: Meredith & Amber.

References

External links

Trustee meeting about appointment

Named a distinguished Alumni for FSU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leas, Terrence Living people American educational theorists Florida State University alumni 1950 births