Dr. Dennis Harkins
President, Orange Coast College

Dr. Dennis Harkins is OCC's 10th permanent president.

Dr. Harkins most recently served as Director of Government Relations at Georgia Perimeter College in metropolitan Atlanta, and previously served for ten years as Provost of the Clarkston Campus, and as a member of the College Executive Team. Georgia Perimeter College is the third largest college in Georgia with a degree enrollment of 24,500 students. The Clarkston Campus, with a degree enrollment of 7,000, has a diverse and international student population with programs for transfer and professional studies. The Clarkston Campus is home to the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra, hosts Fine Arts, Drama, and Music facilities, the college’s Center for International Education, a RN nursing program, and is the founding campus of GPC.

Dr. Harkins is active in the community and has served as a member of the DeKalb County Convention Center Authority; served as the Chairman of PRISM a community and business association for the Clarkston and Stone Mountain area; as the college representative to Metropolitan Regional Educational Service Agency, as a board member of the American Association of Adapted Sports, on the Board of Directors of the Stone Mountain Rotary Club, a member of the Memorial Drive Revitalization Steering Committee, on the DeKalb County Life Science Initiative, and on the Executive Committee of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Harkins is an experienced accreditation team member for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a DACUM facilitator. Dennis has also served on the American Association of Community College’s Commission on Global Education, and on the American Council on Education’s International Leadership Network, the ACE International Forum for Chief Academic Officers, and ACE International Collaborative.

He earned a BFA in Photography from Ohio University. He continued his studies at Ohio University and completed a Master’s in International Affairs. He holds a Ph.D. in Education with a major in Human Resource Development from Georgia State University.

Dr. Harkins started his teaching career as a photography instructor at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where he became Director of Photography and led the program during a period of rapid expansion and through the introduction of emerging technologies. While at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, he initiated internship programs for students at newspapers and television stations in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Prior to his position of Provost of the Clarkston Campus of Georgia Perimeter College, he was Vice President and Dean of Education at the Art Institute of Atlanta where he helped guide the college’s regional accreditation efforts, first at the associate level and later at the baccalaureate level, and oversaw the development of new programs in general education, culinary arts, and music entertainment management.
 
He and his wife, Kim, have two children.