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Dr. Peggy Heinrich, EdD, is the Interim President of Elgin Community College (ECC), a role she has held since July 2024. Dr. Heinrich has been with ECC since 2007 in a variety of positions, including Vice President of Teaching, Learning, and Student Development (8 years), Dean of Adult/Continuing Education and Workforce Development (2 years), Dean of Adult Education (6 years), and Associate Dean of Adult Education (1 year). She served as Associate Director for Adult Education and Family Literacy with the Illinois Community College Board, as Director of Programs for Literacy Chicago, as Adult Literacy Tutoring Coordinator for the Albany Park Community Center, and as a consultant for various community-based organizations in Chicago. Dr. Heinrich also taught English as a Second Language classes to adult students and began her career as a high school English teacher within the Chicago Public School system.

Dr. Heinrich earned her Doctor of Education in Community College Leadership from Ferris State University, where she was awarded the 2017 faculty award for Distinguished Scholar-Practitioner. She earned her Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics with a concentration in Teaching English as a Second Language from Northeastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education English with a minor in Communications from DePaul University. Dr. Heinrich was also a 2022-2023 Aspen Rising Presidents Fellow with the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program. Other recognitions include the 2023 YWCA Harriet Gifford and Hattie Griffin Education Leadership Award and Elgin Community College’s Leader of the Year Award in 2014 and 2018.