Alfred Williams, president of River Valley Community College (Courtesy photo)
Alfred Williams, president of River Valley Community College (RVCC), has announced that he will retire in July. Williams has served as president of the college since 2018.
RVCC serves more than 1,000 students annually between the main campus in Claremont and academic centers in Lebanon and Keene. The college also oversees Early College opportunities that serve nearly 1,400 area high school students.
The college's offerings includes healthcare programs auch as the associate degree nursing program leading to the licensure as a Registered Nurse. Under Williams’ leadership, RVCC created and launched a Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program and coordinated it as a statewide offering by rotating the program’s availability across the Community College System of NH(CCSNH) campuses.
The college also deepened partnerships with healthcare employers in western NH to support LNA and Medicating Nursing Assistant programs, while expanding clinical sites to increase enrollment and job placement opportunities. Williams’ focus on the college’s allied health programs led to a doubling of the number of nursing graduates from RVCC during his tenure.
“President Williams has done exceptional work, reflected in his leadership at River Valley over the past eight years, and also in a myriad of ways across CCSNH. The model that he and his team developed for supporting the reestablishment of an LPN program across multiple regions of the state is one that we’ll seek to leverage in our efforts to support the objectives of GO-NORTH,” says Mark Rubinstein, chancellor of CCSNH. “President Williams was also the calming presence we asked to step into the void at Nashua following the untimely passing of Lucille Jordan, ensuring that the momentum that President Jordan had been building, particularly around aviation programs, wouldn’t be lost. I know my colleagues across the system and state will join me in wishing President Williams well in his retirement.”
Williams also advocated for the renovation of classrooms and labs, including the creation of an energized lab for the college’s Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JCERT) approved Radiologic Technology program, supported by a combination of college, state and federal funds with the federal portion enabled through Congressionally-directed funding secured by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Williams also deepened the college’s partnership with Keene State College (KSC), including co-locating its Keene academic center on the KSC campus and expanding transfer opportunities between the two institutions.
In 2024, RVCC became the first NH institution to host the Smithsonian traveling exhibit focusing on America’s changing rural landscape. The college then turned the space used for the exhibit into a sustainable art gallery for rotating community art.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the people of New Hampshire as president of RVCC,” Williams says. “When my family and I arrived eight years ago, we could not have expected just how welcoming and supportive the RVCC community would be. New Hampshire has truly become our home. During my time here, I have seen firsthand the deep commitment of RVCC’s faculty and staff to student success. It has been a pleasure to work side by side with a team that shows such care, dedication, and belief in the transformative power of a community college education. Throughout my career, I have been guided by a commitment to expanding access to affordable, life-changing educational opportunities for students and their families. I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to advance that mission during my tenure at RVCC.”
Williams, a native of Rhode Island, worked in the Connecticut community college system before coming to the Granite State to become president of RVCC.