About the President

As the sixth president of Monroe Community College, DeAnna R. Burt-Nanna, Ph.D., draws on over 30 years of experience in business, industry, and higher education. Her leadership has helped open pathways to success for individuals in New York, Minnesota, and Michigan.

Building on an educational foundation in computer information systems, business administration, and educational leadership, Dr. Burt-Nanna is nationally recognized for advancing student success, fostering innovation, improving operational efficiency, and transforming organizational culture. She is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion; educational access and attainment; and workforce development – regularly speaking on these topics at local, state, and national levels. Guided by collaboration, she forges strategic partnerships with educators and employers to create opportunity and transform lives through public higher education.

Dr. Burt-Nanna has an impressive record of volunteerism, philanthropy, and board/council service. She currently serves on the boards of directors of the Greater Rochester Enterprise, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes Region, and the Monroe Community College Foundation. She is a member of the executive board of the New York Community College Association of Presidents and was named Co-Chair of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council. In addition, she serves as an appointee to the regional M&T Bank Directors Advisory Council.

On a national level, Dr. Burt-Nanna serves on the American Association of Community Colleges board of directors, the League for Innovation in the Community College board of directors, the American Graduate: Path to the Future National Advisory Group, and is a member of The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program’s Workforce Speakers Bureau.

Under her leadership, MCC has received national recognition for innovative student success initiatives, experienced five years of steady enrollment growth after over a decade of decline, and achieved its highest graduation rate in twenty years by aligning its programs with regional workforce needs. Reflecting Dr. Burt-Nanna’s dedication to student achievement, the MCC Foundation awarded a record $2 million plus in scholarships for the 2024–2025 academic year. Public trust in MCC continues to grow, evidenced by the opening of the Finger Lakes Workforce Development Center in 2022—an $11.4 million regional investment by New York State at MCC’s Downtown Campus—and the $69.6 million Sydor Optics Advanced Technology Center, set to open in 2026, supported by local, state, and federal investments aimed at doubling the regional pipeline of workers in high-demand careers.

Dr. Burt-Nanna has earned numerous awards and recognitions for her transformational leadership. Since taking charge at MCC in 2021, she has been praised by City & State New York magazine as a trailblazer in economic development and higher education, named to the Rochester Business Journal’s Power 100 list for five consecutive years, and included twice on the Rochester Business Journal’s Women of Excellence list. In 2025, she was a finalist for the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce’s ATHENA International Award and was named Northeast Regional CEO of the Year by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT).

Born and raised in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, Dr. Burt-Nanna holds doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees, all from Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan). She is an Aspen Presidential Fellow (2020-2021), a Thomas Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership Fellow (2019), and an Association for the Study of Higher Education/Lumina Foundation Fellow (2008-2009).