November 13, 1997 - Chancellor Anderson names Gary Langer interim president of Century College; President Meznek takes position at California community college

The current head of academic and student affairs at Century College in White Bear Lake will assume the interim presidency effective Nov. 17. The appointment of Gary Langer, Century's interim vice president of academic affairs and vice president of students affairs, was announced today at the college by Morris Anderson, chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

Langer takes over the duties from President James Meznek, who will become president of Barstow Community College in California. Meznek is a California native. Meznek oversaw the consolidation of the former Northeast Vocational Technical College and the former Lakewood Community College in 1996.

"Jim Meznek has accomplished a lot in his three years," said Chancellor Anderson. "He not only led consolidation efforts, he also increased the emphasis on student-centered learning, strengthened the Century College Foundation ten-fold and supported diversity in the faculty. I am happy to name Dr. Langer to this interim post while we search for a permanent president."

Langer has been vice president of student affairs since January 1996 and interim vice president of academic affairs since August 1997. He was acting dean of student services for both Northeast Metro Technical College and Lakewood Community College prior to the merger of the two institutions. From 1971 to 1993, Langer was director of the Student Success Program and a counselor, advisor and instructor at Lakewood Community College.

The interim president holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. from St. John's University.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is the largest single provider of higher education in the state of Minnesota. The system serves approximately 145,000 students during fall quarter and a total non-duplicated headcount for a full academic year of about 233,000 students. MnSCU has 54 campus and includes community colleges, technical colleges, comprehensive community and technical colleges and state universities.