Meet The President

On Oct. 15, 2003, Wake Technical Community College welcomed the third president in the college’s 40-year history: Dr. Stephen Scott. His personal focus at Wake Tech is on high quality, value-added education and on leadership development for faculty, staff, and students.

With a career spanning more than 35 years, Dr. Scott has served as president of Lenoir Community College (2002-2003, Kinston, N.C.) and Southeastern Community College (1988-1999, Whiteville, N.C.). He has also served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the North Carolina Community College System (1999-2002).

Dr. Scott began his career in South Carolina, teaching high school mathematics and physics. He served in several administrative positions for community colleges in South Carolina before moving to North Carolina in 1988.

In 2008, Dr. Scott was named President of the Year by the NC Board of Community Colleges. Other recent honors include the 2009 I.E. Ready award from the NC State University Department of Adult and Higher Education and the 2008 Business Leader of the Year Award from Business Leader magazine.

Under Dr. Scott’s leadership, Wake Tech opened its Northern Wake Campus as the first campus in the nation to be completely LEED certified. LEED is the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest standard for environmentally-friendly construction. He also directed the implementation of a tobacco-free policy at all Wake Tech campuses. Dr. Scott has forged new partnerships with four-year institutions, which for the first time, enable graduates of technical programs to transfer to earn a bachelor’s degree. He responded to the call of students for the establishment of a competitive athletics program at Wake Tech. Currently, Wake Tech has five campus locations and two centers, enrolling more than 63,000 students in 2010 - 2011.

A native of Liberty, S.C., Dr. Scott worked in his family’s restaurant as a young man. He attended the University of Tennessee and earned his bachelor’s degree (economics), master’s degree (administration), and doctoral degree (education) at Clemson University.

Dr. Scott and his wife, Patsy, have two children and three grandchildren.