Irvine : Irvine Valley President Plans to Retire Nov. 1

Edward Hart, 57, the founding president of Irvine Valley College, announced Monday that he will retire effective Nov. 1.

“I’ve done what I came here to do. The college is built,” said Hart during an interview. “I’ve been thinking of retiring for several months. I’ll be a consultant (for the college district), and I may teach a few classes in management.”

Under Hart’s leadership, an orange grove at the intersection of Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive in Irvine has been transformed into California’s 106th--and newest--community college.

The college started as a sort of “branch office” to Saddleback College, which is in Mission Viejo.

“We started classes at the ‘north campus’ in 1979,” Hart recalled. “We opened with about 1,500 students. This fall we’ll have about 6,000 students. The college is projected to grow to about 25,000 students within the next 15 years.”

The “Saddleback North Campus” became an independent community college on July 1, 1985, after the trustees of Saddleback Community College District decided that the Irvine campus deserved a separate identity.

After a search for a new name for the college, the trustees settled on “Irvine Valley,” a mythical valley that encompasses the cities of Irvine, Laguna Beach and Tustin. The new college serves that area.

“The prospects for Irvine Valley College are good,” said Hart. “Two new buildings are going up, and they’ll double our (classroom) capacity. We’ll need more help from the state, though.”

Hart, who lives in Laguna Niguel, was asked by district trustees to continue as a consultant. He will work as a liaison between the college and the Legislature and also with the local governments in the Tustin and Irvine areas.

Harriett Walther, president of the board of trustees, said: “The district has a continuing need for his services, and we accepted his decision to retire only because he was willing to continue to help us with some important issues for the district.”

Richard Sneed, chancellor for the college district, said that he will name an administrator at Irvine Valley to act as interim president after Hart leaves in November. A search for a new president then will be conducted, Sneed said.