Zeller Named Interim Joliet Junior College President

Editor's note: The following is a release from Joliet Junior College.

The Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Frank Zeller as the college’s interim president Aug. 12. 

Zeller’s appointment was approved by the board after Dr. Gena Proulx, JJC president since 2006, this month. Zeller, of Peru, was initially hired in early August to serve as an interim senior executive to oversee day-to-day college operations while Proulx was on sick leave. Now, he will serve as JJC’s interim president while the college conducts a nationwide presidential search.

Zeller has worked at JJC before, once in 2001 with then-president J.D. Ross as the college celebrated its 100^th anniversary, and again in 2010 with Proulx, both in the position of interim vice president of administrative services.

“I’m pleased to be here and work with the Joliet Junior College family again,” Zeller said. “I think it’s important to keep the college going in the direction Dr. Proulx would want, continuing to streamline student services and providing the space necessary for programs that address job shortages in our communities.”

Zeller added that in the last three years, the college campus increased its square footage by over 50 percent, space that he said is vital to provide the necessary educational and job training opportunities that are so intrinsic to the college’s mission.

No stranger to higher education in Illinois, Zeller served for 27 years as chief financial officer of Illinois Valley Community College before retiring in 2000. He holds a bachelor’s degree from , a master’s degree and a doctorate in school business management from Northern Illinois University.