Dr. Jerome Hunter was born in Birmingham, Alabama and spent his early years in the segregated South.
In 1963, in a program sponsored by the youth of the Unitarian Church, he migrated to Santa Barbara, California. He graduated from Santa Barbara High School and took courses at Santa Barbara City College. He continued his education in Southern California receiving his A.A. in Liberal Arts from Santa Ana College, B.A. in Political Science from U. C. Riverside, M.A in Urban Studies from Occidental College and Ed. D. in Higher Education from the University of Southern California.
Upon graduation from U.C. Riverside, he was drafted by the US Army & served from 1969 – 197l as Radio teletype operator in support of an infantry battalion. After working in a variety of jobs in both the public and private sector, in 1971 he became an adjunct faculty member at Santa Ana College. In the years that followed he progressed from a classified employee to the President of two Community colleges – Mira Mar College & San Diego City College.
In 2008, he retired as Chancellor of the North Orange County Community College District after thirty-seven years in education.
Dr. Hunter’s professional and community involvement have included:
California Community Colleges Chief Executive Officers’ Board, Chancellors’ Executive Committee, American Association of Community College President’s Roundtable, CORO Foundation National Board of Governors, Orange County Human Relations Community Partners Advisory Board, Orange County Business Council Workforce Development Task Force, Center for Occupational Research & Development Board of Directors, Southern California College of Optometry Board of Directors, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Nature Bridge Southern CA Board.
He retired in 2015 as the Distinguished Lecturer in the College of Education at California State University Fullerton.
A Viet Nam veteran, Dr. Hunter and his wife of forty-eight years, Adleane, reside in Fullerton, CA. They are the parents of three children: Chrystal, Jamila & Lawrence; six grandchildren – Christopher, Alexandria, Kennedy, Nia, Asha & Amayhra.