WILKES-BARRE — Former state senator John Yudichak on Wednesday said he feels “blessed and honored” to have been chosen to take over the helm at Luzerne County Community College.
Yudichak, 53 of Swoyersville, was named — on a 13-2 vote — as the next LCCC president at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees. Yudichak will assume the post in June when current president Thomas Leary retires.
The appointment is contingent on the college and Yudichak “negotiating a mutually agreeable employment contract.”
“I have always considered LCCC to be one of our region’s most valuable resources,” Yudichak said. While growing up in Plymouth Township, I watched as the college grew. I look forward to joining LCCC’s exceptional faculty, staff and administration.”
Yudichak said he is honored that the members of the Board of Trustees nominated him to serve as the President of Luzerne County Community College.
“Luzerne County Community College is an unparalleled educational and economic asset, with exceptional faculty and staff, that has produced more than 30,000 talented alumni and serves as a robust workforce development engine that is transforming the economic fortunes of individual students and the communities the college serves in northeastern Pennsylvania,” Yudichak said. “I look forward to my continued discussions with the Board of Trustees that will occur in the coming days.”
Yudichak said LCCC has always been involved in much of the economic boom along the Interstate 81 corridor, which former Gov. Tom Wolf’s Governor’s Action Team recognized as the number one region in PA for job creation and private investment.
“LCCC has been a major partner in all of that, especially in the South Valley corridor,” Yudichak said.
Just last week, Sen. Lisa Baker announced that she and her colleagues will introduce legislation to re-name the South Valley Parkway the “Senator John Yudichak Commerce Parkway.”
Baker said the action would commemorate the vision and hard work of Yudichak, who spent 24 years in the state legislature, adding that his efforts epitomize Pennsylvania’s history, present, and future.
“We propose Luzerne County knows and understands the impact of Sen. Yudichak’s commitment, and this recognition will allow others who travel the route to better understand who championed the effort,” Baker said.
Leary, 72, announced his intention to retire at the December 2022 LCCC Board of Trustees meeting. His contract runs through June 2024. Leary has worked at LCCC for 48 years. He was appointed president in 2007.
The LCCC Search Committee members are: Robert Bertoni, chair; Attorney Catherine O’Donnell, chair of the LCCC board of trustees; Joseph Long, superintendent at Northwest Area School District; Daniel Rogers, Anthony Seiwell, Erin Keating, Dr. Bernard W. Graham and August Piazza.
Other members of the LCCC Board of Trustees are Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown, Paul DeFabo, James P. Dennis, Joseph J. Esposito, Holly A. Evanoski, Joseph Lettiere and Susan E. Unvarsky.
DeFabo and Evanoski voted against Yudichak’s appointment.
In December 2022, Yudichak announced he had accepted a position as senior adviser with Harrisburg-based GSL Public Strategies Group, which provides a complete range of government consulting, government relations and corporate and crisis communications services.
In accepting the position, Yudichak said he was bringing more than 20 years of strategic experience in shaping legislative, budgetary and regulatory policy in the commonwealth. In his three terms as Pennsylvania State Senator in Carbon and Luzerne counties, he earned a reputation as a consensus-builder and he accomplished notable community and economic development objectives.
Yudichak earned his M.A. and B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.
The LCCC job posting said the job pay range is $150,000 to $199,999. Leary’s salary was recently increased from $196,711 to $202,613.
Prior to Tuesday night’s vote, Board Vice-Chairman Robert Bertoni said the college had received 40 applications, which the search committee narrowed to six who were interviewed, with all board members invited to attend. Three names were forwarded for final consideration, with the committee voting to recommend Yudichak.
Yudichak served 12 years as state representative followed by 12 years as state senator, most of them as a Democrat — he switched to Independent in 2019, citing the “toxic conversation that is so pervasive” in politics from both parties.
Prior to the vote on the next president, the board unanimously gave Leary a 3% raise for his final year, retroactive to July 1 of this year. That follows a similar raise last year for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The latest raise will boost his pay for the final year to about $208,691.