Atlanta/Macon – The state board that oversees the Department of Technical and Adult Education has approved the selection of Ronald D. “Ron” Natale as the next president of Central Georgia Technical College, effective February 15, 2007.
The board voted their approval today during their monthly meeting at the DTAE headquarters in Atlanta.
“We believe that Mr. Natale will be a great president for Central Georgia Tech,” said DTAE Interim Commissioner Ron Jackson. “He impressed us with his passion for technical education, his strong support for students and all college services, and his progressive vision of a college that’s responsive to the community and to meeting the workforce demands of the area.”
Natale was selected after an interview process that began last August with the retirement of Central Georgia Tech president Mel Palmer and the naming of eight local citizens to a president search committee that was chaired by Melvin Kruger, the CEO of L.E. Schwartz and Son, Inc. The four-month search for the new president involved candidates interviewing with the local committee and then in to Atlanta for interviews with Jackson and senior DTAE staff.
“We’re most thankful to Melvin Kruger and the entire search committee for their help throughout this process,” said Jackson. “They spent long hours interviewing many qualified candidates, and they feel very strongly that they helped choose the right person to lead CGTC in the coming years.”
Natale was most recently the dean of occupational programs at Lake City Community College in Lake City, Florida, a position he held from 2002 to 2006. At LCCC he was responsible for the management of career and technical education programs in a five-county service delivery area with more than 4,500 students annually. Prior to that, he was an instructional facilitator at the Florida Community College in Jacksonville from 1993 to 2002, where his duties included curriculum development and design, business consulting, and management of the college’s workplace literacy program. His career also includes seven years as a manager, consultant and trainer for the Tandy Corporation.
Natale has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of South Florida and a Master of Education in Education Leadership from the University of North Florida. He is presently nearing completion of his doctorate in Higher Education Administration from the University of Florida.
Kathy Love, who has served as Central Georgia Tech’s interim president since last August, will return to her regular role as president of Flint River Technical College in Thomaston.
About Central Georgia Technical College and DTAE
Central Georgia Tech serves Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Jones, Monroe, Putnam and Twiggs counties. In addition to the main Macon campus, the college also operates a campus in Milledgeville and learning centers in Gray, Eatonton, Roberta and Jeffersonville. A total of 9,842 students were enrolled in diploma, degree and certificate classes during the college’s 2006 fiscal year, and another 4,461 students took part in non-credit continuing education classes during that year.
The Department of Technical and Adult Education is the state agency responsible for the governance of the 34 colleges that make up the Technical College System of Georgia. The department also administers the state's adult literacy programs and Georgia Quick Start, an economic development program dedicated to workforce training.
