Published in the Asheville Citizen-Times, March 19, 2020
A-B Tech has named its next leader. On March 19, the N.C. State Board of Community Colleges approved John Gossett as president of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, with a start date set for July 1.
Gossett, 57, currently serves as president of McDowell Technical Community College.
The A-B Tech Board of Trustees selected Gossett from three finalists, each of whom held on-campus public forums last month. The search began in May 2019 after Dennis King announced he would retire in January 2020. The board approved Gossett on March 9, but awaited state approval before making the pick public. Following King, Gossett will be the seventh president in school history.
“I am humbled and honored to accept the Board of Trustees invitation to become A-B Tech’s next President,” Gossett said in a March 19 statement. “I have seen what makes A-B Tech great: pride in the school and the work being done, a desire to serve students, and a strong sense of community that has led to the earned reputation of excellence.”
Gossett earned his doctorate degree in Adult and Community College Education from North Carolina State University, where he examined the relationship between community colleges and economic development. Gossett has spent 32 years working in community colleges, first at Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine, and then at McDowell. He became president of McDowell Technical in 2016.
“We’re excited to welcome a sitting North Carolina community college president of Dr. Gossett’s caliber to A-B Tech,” said A-B Tech Board of Trustees Chair John Parham. “His stellar experience and lifetime of connections to Western North Carolina and East Tennessee will serve us well.”
One of 58 community colleges in the North Carolina, A-B Tech is the largest college or university in Western North Carolina, enrolling more than 23,000 students a year at its five campuses in Buncombe and Madison counties.