Hercules Pinkney, Ed.D.
Interim President, Montgomery College

Dr. Hercules Pinkney serves as the interim president of Montgomery College, a three-campus community college in Montgomery County, Maryland. In this role, he oversees the education and student services for 60,000 credit and noncredit students.

Dr. Pinkney previously served as vice president and provost of the Germantown Campus of Montgomery College. As provost, he was the chief academic and student services administrator of the Germantown Campus. In addition, as vice president, he provided oversight for the College's information technology programs, distance learning, service learning, the Center for Teaching and Learning, Student Employment Services, and the Carl D. Perkins Grant program.

Dr. Pinkney also served as the principal investigator of a three-year $600,000 grant from the Partnerships for Innovation of the National Science Foundation to help create a comprehensive educational and training continuum to foster innovation in biotechnology.

Dr. Pinkney has led the College’s efforts to develop an innovative center for bioscience, research, and business development on the Germantown Campus. Building on the success of the College's biotechnology and science programs, this visionary project has already resulted in a Montgomery County-operated business incubator. Montgomery College will soon break ground on a 130,000-square-foot Bioscience Education Center with state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories. The final part of the project is a life sciences and technology park.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley appointed Dr. Pinkney to two terms on the state’s 15-member Life Sciences Advisory Board, which is charged with promoting life sciences research, development, manufacturing, and industry collaboration within the state. He is also a board member for the Tech Council of Maryland and the Universities of Shady Gove. Within Montgomery County, he serves on the board of directors of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. His other county responsibilities include chairing the Interagency Technology Policy and Coordination Committee, and serving on the Bioscience Taskforce, the Economic Advisory Council, the Board of Community Use of Public Facilities, and the Cross Agency Resource Sharing Committee.

Leadership Montgomery named Dr. Pinkney as the 2010 Sandy Spring Bank Outstanding Leader for his meaningful impact on life in Montgomery County. He previously served on the organization’s board of directors. He also served as the chair of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce board of directors in 2005. He was named 2003 Educator of the Year by the African American Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to coming to Montgomery College in the summer of 2000, Dr. Pinkney served for 11 years as vice president for continuing education and evening programs at Prince George’s Community College. Previously, he was director of continuing education for the former Maryland Board for Community Colleges, which determined the state funding eligibility of community college courses throughout the state of Maryland.

From 1979 to 1983, Dr. Pinkney served as the assistant dean for programming in the continuing education area at Montgomery College. When he left in 1983, he had been named acting provost for continuing education. Dr. Pinkney has held administrative positions at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, and at the former Federal City College in Washington, D.C. He also has teaching experience in two public school systems and two four-year colleges.

Dr. Pinkney holds a Doctor of Education in educational administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Claflin College and a master's degree in education from South Carolina State College.