Kristen Westover has served as the President at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap since July 2017. She came to Mountain Empire from Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, Virginia where she served for 6 years as the Vice President for Academic and Student Development Services. Dr. Westover has also worked for the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin, where she served as a Program Coordinator for the national initiatives leadership team. At the Dana Center, Dr. Westover was the Project Director for a joint initiative with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching called the STATWAY™. Dr. Westover has also served at the Kansas Board of Regents, where she was the Director of Technical Programs and Curriculum, and as the Vice President of Academics at Colby Community College in Northwest Kansas. Prior to her service as a community college administrator, she was a member of the mathematics department at the same college. Dr. Westover also taught high school mathematics and coached for ten years at the middle school level. 

Dr. Westover has worked on numerous curriculum and assessment projects at the college and state levels. In 2016 she was selected as an Inaugural Aspen Institute Presidential Fellow. She is also an alumnus of the LEAD Virginia class of 2013. Her dissertation research focused on developmental education and college readiness as determined by placement exams and the success of students placed into developmental education courses in community colleges. 

Dr. Westover holds an A.S from Colby Community College, a B.S. in mathematics and a M.S. in instructional technology from Fort Hays State University, and an Ed.D. in organizational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.