Janet N. Spriggs, Ed.D.*

Bio

Dr. Janet N. Spriggs became the seventh President for Forsyth Technical Community College on January 1, 2019. Prior to joining Forsyth Tech, she served seven years in various executive leadership roles at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and for fifteen years as an executive leader at Carteret Community College, giving her almost 24 years of service in the North Carolina Community College System.

Dr. Spriggs has the unique honor of having been named an Aspen Presidential Fellow for Community College Excellence two times. She was one of 40 leaders selected from across the nation as a 2018-2019 Aspen Rising Presidential Fellow and earlier this year, she was one of 25 new community college presidents from across the nation selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the Aspen New Presidents Fellowship.

Dr. Spriggs earned her doctorate in higher education administration from Northeastern University in 2018. Her passion is in the power of education to change lives and the vital role community colleges play as catalysts for equity, and workforce and economic development. As a student-centered visionary, Dr. Spriggs is dedicated to fostering high quality learning, improving completion, advancing equity of success for all students, and expanding post-graduation success. In addition to her doctorate, she also holds a master’s degree in computing technology from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Roger Williams University.

A native of North Carolina, Dr. Spriggs grew up in Milton, NC and is also proud to be a former community college student, having attended two North Carolina Community Colleges: Rockingham Community College and Durham Technical Community College. “I have witnessed countless life-changing moments that illustrate the power of education to transform lives,” says Dr. Spriggs, “and as a low-income, first-generation student, education changed my life. As a leader, I believe leaders are more effective when they lead from within rather than from above and by influence instead of authority, and I am committed to a culture of belonging where inclusion is weaved into the fabric of who we are.”

In June 2020, Dr. Spriggs was selected for a 3-year term on the American Association of Community College’s Student Success Commission. Additionally, Dr. Spriggs serves the community and our state as a Rotarian, a member of the Advisory Board for the Belk Center at NC State University and on the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission. She also serves on the boards for the Winston-Salem Alliance, Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. and the United Way of Forsyth County. She has been married to her husband Doug for more than 30 years and they love spending time with their five children, four grandchildren, and their two Norfolk Terriers.