Within only a couple of decades, women of color have come a long way in their representation among college presidents. The place where they are most abundant is at community colleges. There are currently 104 women of color heading postsecondary institutions, and 61 of these are at community colleges.

In this edition, Black Issues In Higher Education profiles five of these talented, brilliant, and pioneering women, all of whom preside over campuses where the full-time student enrollment exceeds 20,000 students.

Powerful Sisters

Del M. Anderson

Chancellor, City College of San Francisco, since 1995

Degree: B.A. -- San Diego State Univ., family life education, 1965; M.A. -- San Diego State Univ., social work, 1967; Graduate study -- Claremont Graduate School, executive management, 1985-86

Previous appointments: President San Jose City College; Vice president, Skyline College; Dean of students, Los Angeles Harbor College.

Boards: Accrediting team, University of California-San Diego; American Association of Community Colleges (1996); San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

As the first female and African American chancellor of her district, Del M. Anderson of the City College of San Francisco says she has frequently been called upon over the years to be part of various organizations and causes.

"You get called on to do a lot of things just because you're a woman. You get called on to do a lot of things just because you're African American. For me personally, I've been the first African American to do so many things, I don't even think about it anymore."

Anderson heads the only community college in San Francisco with its $136.5 million budget, the college district is the city's primary provider of vocational training.

Under Anderson's leadership, the college recently designed a computer multimedia training program to respond to the needs of the high-tech industry in San Francisco. The district also has a long-standing hotel and restaurant program which trains students for hospitality, San Francisco's leading industry. In a partnership with United Airlines, the district trains aircraft maintenance engineers at San Francisco International Airport. And, after completing their associate's degrees, many of the college's students go on to four-year universities, particularly to nearby San Francisco State University.