First elected to the District board in 1998, Brown was re-elected in November 2002 to serve a second four-year term. It was during his first term on the Board that the District passed Measure C, the $370 million general obligation bond measure that provided funds to renovate and expand classroom facilities at the District’s three colleges.

         “I am honored and excited to be elected by my colleagues to serve as president during a time when we will be grappling with many important issues,” Brown said. “The coming year will be full of challenges, and I am confident we can work together to meet those challenges and continue to effectively serve our students and our community.”

         Brown has also served as a member of the Board Committee on KOCE, which has been actively negotiating to shed the financial burden the District-owned public broadcasting station has placed on the District’s educational budget. At their meeting last night, the Board approved the terms of a proposed sale of the KOCE broadcasting license to the KOCE-TV Foundation, a support organization that has pledged to keep KOCE a public broadcasting station.

         The district is the seventh largest community college district in the nation in credit enrollment, serving more than 60,000 full-time students each semester at its three colleges – Coastline Community College, Golden West College and Orange Coast College.

         Prior to joining the CCCD Board of Trustees, Brown served on the Seal Beach City Council from 1983 to 1998, including two terms as mayor. He has been an active member of several government and community organizations, including the Orange County Sanitation District, Orange County Fire Authority, Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System, Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, Los Alamitos Medical Center and the Cancer Support Foundation. He is also active in Seal Beach’s Leisure World community.

         In June 1998, the Coastline Community College Foundation honored Brown with its Visionary of the Year award. He has represented the Coast District on the Orange County Community Colleges Legislative Task Force, as well as the Community College League of California’s Committee on Legislation and Finance. He has also served as an elected representative of the California Senior Legislature.

         A commissioned officer in the Navy during WWII, Brown served as commander of the American Legion Post 327. A UCLA graduate in Business Administration, Brown served as a finance and contract administrator in the aerospace industry before retiring to open several travel agencies. Brown lives in Seal Beach with his wife, Helen. He has 4 children, 4 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

         Walter G. Howald, the new Vice President, has served on the Board since 1985 and was President most recently in 2001.

EDITORS: A PHOTO OF DR. VEGA IS AVAILABLE BY CONTACTING THE DISTRICT PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE.

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        The Coast Community College District is the seventh largest community college district in the nation in credit enrollment, serving more than 60,000 students each semester. The district is comprised of Coastline Community College headquartered in Fountain Valley, Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, and KOCE-TV, the district’s public broadcasting station.