Wolde-Ab Isaac

Wolde-Ab Isaac is chancellor of Riverside Community College District (RCCD), with colleges in the cities of Moreno Valley, Norco, and Riverside. He came to RCCD in 2006 as dean of health science at the Moreno Valley campus. In 2012, he was named vice president of academic affairs and in 2015, he was appointed as Riverside City College’s 11th president. In 2022, he joined the PPIC Higher Education Center Advisory Council. Prior to coming to RCCD, he was an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Addis Abeba, Ethopia; an associate professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Ife in Nigeria; and senior clinical research scientist at AstraZeneca. From 1993 to 2006, he served as president of the University of Asmara and as secretary of the government of Eritrea in charge of strategic planning and the civil service. He received a degree in chemistry from Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie University where he majored in chemistry. He completed his MSc and PhD degrees in medicinal chemistry at University of Michigan and did post-doctoral studies at Uppsala University in Sweden.