Costa Mesa : Orange Coast College President Resigns

Orange Coast College President Donald R. Bronsard resigned his post in a letter to district board members Tuesday, and requested a one-year leave of absence “to break out of the bureaucracy” and test his entrepreneurial skills.

Bronsard, 50, was named president in 1985. He is credited with reversing a decline and building enrollment to 26,419 students, making the Costa Mesa college the largest single-campus community college in the nation.

Coast Community College District trustees accepted Bronsard’s resignation Tuesday night, and are expected to consider an interim replacement at the Aug. 16 board meeting.

Bronsard said Tuesday that the unpaid leave, begining Aug. 11, will allow him to investigate business opportunities with little risk, since he will return to a teaching post in language arts and literature at one of three colleges in the district. He said he has no specific plans and will look into his own business or a partnership in educational consulting, manufacturing, retail or research.

“I had a mild heart attack last summer, and that reminds one of one’s mortality,” Bronsard said. “You don’t have all the time in the world to do what you want to do, so you better do it. I’m recovered fully and very healthy, so I decided now’s the time.

“The whole point is to establish a beachhead in the entrepreneurial economy of the area and then manage it while I teach.”

Before coming to Orange Coast, Bronsard was vice president and academic dean at Concord College, a four-year college in Athens, W. Va. His 20-year career in education includes seven years in teaching and 13 years in administration.