John J. Sygielski

John J. Sygielski

President
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College
Speaker

Bio

John J. "Ski" Sygielski, Ed.D, became the seventh president of HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, in July 2011. His previous appointments include president of Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, and president of Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Virginia. He began his professional career as a teacher in a Chicago inner-city school followed by a stint as a corporate trainer for two Fortune 500 companies. He transitioned to a community college career at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where he began his community college administration and college teaching career. 

Ski is the vice chairman of the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges. He is the past chairman of the board for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and AACC's 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges. He is currently a member of Harrisburg Rotary and serves on the boards of the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce and Pennsylvania's Workforce Investment Board. 

He earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy, two master's degrees in business and a doctorate in education, as well as an honorary associate degree. 

Ski, and his husband, Steve Perrault, are residents of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he is an avid bicyclist and the only member of his working-class family to graduate from college.