Rafieymehr Named Interim President of River Valley Community College

Dr. Ali Rafieymehr has been named interim President of River Valley Community College, which includes a main campus in Claremont and academic centers in Keene and Lebanon. 

The Community College System of NH board of trustees recently voted unanimously to approve Rafieymehr’s appointment, which was recommended to them by CCSNH Chancellor Ross Gittell.  Rafieymehr has been serving as the college's vice president of academic affairs since June of 2016.

“I am deeply honored to have been asked to serve as River Valley’s president.  The students, faculty and staff across the regions we serve are a true inspiration to me, and I am committed to the mission of this college and the community college system,” says Rafieymehr.  “I see tremendous opportunity and a real need for what the college brings to our communities. I embrace this new responsibility and appreciate the confidence and support of my colleagues, Chancellor Gittell and the trustees.”

Before joining River Valley Community College, Rafieymehr served as a workforce development consultant and dean of Dyn University at Dyn in Manchester, where he helped to develop current and future workforce talent for Dyn and other companies in NH. His previous academic experience includes positions as dean and director of the Manchester Campus of the University of NH, dean of the Division of Information Technology and Sciences at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt., and department chair of the Computer Science and Information Technology Department at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. In addition to also holding teaching positions at those institutions, he held full-time/adjunct faculty positions at St Anselm College in Manchester, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and Merrimack College. His professional experience includes a 20-year career as a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq Corporation, and Avici Systems.

“He brings what I believe the college needs in a leader at this time – someone who is already deeply engaged in the life of the college, who is enthusiastic and skilled at developing innovative programs and services to meet the needs of students and the communities the college serves, and who is committed to outreach to constituencies across the region to ensure the college is a strong partner in economic and workforce development,” says Gittell.

Rafieymehr’s appointment as interim president is for a period of two years.