The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities has named Pakou Yang to serve as president of Normandale Community College. The appointment becomes effective immediately.
“Dr. Yang is a strong leader who has successfully guided Normandale as interim president over the past 10 months,” said Scott Olson, chancellor of Minnesota State. “She excels at cultivating coalitions and consensus around what needs to be done and will no doubt continue to build upon Normandale’s solid foundation to position it well for the future.”
Olson continued, “Dr. Yang has devoted her career to serving students at Minnesota State colleges and universities, both in the classroom and in leadership roles on campus and at the system office. She has a proven track record of improving student success, increasing enrollment and retention, fostering shared governance, and championing the vital role community colleges play in transforming lives and strengthening communities.”
Dr. Yang has served as interim president at Normandale since June 2025. As interim president, she has provided strategic and operational leadership while engaging faculty, staff, students, and community partners to advance the college’s mission and strategic objectives. With this appointment, Dr. Yang is the first Hmong American college or university president in the United States.
Previously, Dr. Yang served as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn., from 2021-2025. In that role, she worked to increase student success and narrow equity gaps through data-driven, evidence-based strategies. She implemented a comprehensive approach to recruitment and retention across academic and student affairs, which maintained or grew enrollment at the college during her tenure. Her leadership also advanced innovations in academic programs, instructional delivery models, and strategic scheduling aligned with student needs.
Prior to that, Dr. Yang served Century College as the vice president of student affairs and enrollment management from 2018-2021. In this capacity, she provided leadership to maintain academic continuity and uninterrupted student support services during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also led the student affairs division to implement transformational services and best practices focused on holistic student development.
She served as system director for P-20 and college readiness at the Minnesota State system office from 2014-2018, where she guided statewide policy and legislative efforts on dual enrollment, course placement, developmental education, and K-12/higher education alignment.
Proceeding that, Dr. Yang served Century College as an academic dean from 2008-2014 for the division of behavioral and social science, communication, physical education and health, humanities, and the translation and interpreting program. She began her academic career as a full-time unlimited communication instructor at Century College from 2003-2008.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth, a master’s from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
About Normandale College
Normandale Community College, located in Bloomington, Minn., is the largest two-year college within the Minnesota State system with nearly 17,000 enrolled students. Normandale offers over 70 degrees and certificates with a mission of cultivating a welcoming community, fostering every student’s talent, and building an equitable world. For more information visit https://www.normandale.edu/.
Minnesota State includes 26 community and technical colleges and seven state universities serving approximately 270,000 students. It is the third-largest system of two-year colleges and four-year universities in the United States.
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