The Coast Community College District Board of Trustees has approved Dr. Tara Giblin as the new Vice President of Instruction at Orange Coast College at its meeting on July 17, 2024. Dr. Giblin was selected after an extensive nationwide search and will begin her new role on July 22, 2024. She has served as Acting Vice President of Instruction since January 2024.
“I am excited to work with Dr. Giblin in this new capacity as we continue to build upon a culture of excellence at OCC,” said OCC President Angelica Suarez. “Dr. Giblin’s leadership at Orange Coast College has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to student success and fostering a spirit of innovation.”
With over 20 years of experience in research, teaching, and administration, Dr. Giblin has dedicated her career to serving students in higher education through excellence in teaching and providing enriching experiences beyond the classroom. This makes her an excellent choice for the role of Vice President of Instruction at OCC.
Since 2014, Dr. Giblin has served as the Dean of Mathematics and Sciences at Orange Coast College. In this role, she has provided exceptional leadership that has significantly expanded student support in STEM fields, such as securing a Title V USDE Hispanic Serving Institutions grant (STEM Academy), establishing a Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement program, supporting the development of the OCC Planetarium and implementing the OCC Community Science Night. Other notable accomplishments include being named Manager of the Year in 2017 and becoming an American Council on Education Fellow in 2018. She co-founded the OCC Student Project and Research Symposium and was Acting Vice President of Instruction in late 2018 and early 2019.
“My time at OCC has been rewarding because of the shared dedication of our faculty, classified professionals, and my fellow managers,” says Dr. Tara Giblin. “We come together daily to ensure students have the best educational experience possible. I am honored to continue my professional journey as the Vice President of Instruction at OCC.”
Before her tenure at OCC, Dr. Giblin was a tenured faculty member at Stephens College as the Kimball Endowed Chair in Molecular Biology. She earned tenure, served as the Natural Science department chair, and was awarded a Fulbright Senior Fellowship to teach in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Dr. Giblin holds a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Illinois, Urbana. She has also worked as a research chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of California, Riverside.