Arizona Western College will be on the lookout for a new president soon. Today at the college district governing board meeting, President Dr. Daniel Corr announced his plans to retire by the end of the fiscal year in June 2026.
Corr is AWC's ninth president and is currently serving his 10th year in the role.
In a special Corr Report video sent to the AWC Matador community, Corr broke the news and reflected on the last 10 years.
"Boy, what an amazing decade it's been," he began. "We've grown enrollment—record enrollment this semester. We've set a record for the number of credentials awarded. We are setting the stage, we're setting the pace across the state for transfer. We've built new buildings. We've stabilized our finance. We've grown our fund balance. We've done so much together.
"And it's been an amazing 10 years as these communities that we serve from La Paz County down to south Yuma County and everywhere in between has embraced and supported the college."
A press release from the college notes that under Corr’s leadership, AWC has led the state in enrollment growth, transfer growth to in-state universities and 1,026% full-time student equivalent growth in Early College program enrollment.
Dr. Corr has also expanded partnerships that have led to an increase in external funding through grants, fundraising and a first-ever state appropriation of $15 million in 2024.
"It really is with a heavy heart that I plan on leaving Arizona Western College after graduation this year," Corr said in his video. "Why with a heavy heart? Because we've done so much great stuff together. But it's the right move since my family is in Maricopa County—my beautiful wife and amazing daughters—and it's really time to move on to the next chapter of my life."
Reflecting on his time, Corr shared that it's been an honor serving the college alongside his cabinet and the governing board.
"I've benefited from working with amazing people at the cabinet table, some of which have been with me the entire 10 years—Bryan Doak and Lori Stofft—and it's been an honor to serve with them," he saud. "We've had a lot of laughs. We've had a lot of difficult decisions to make, but I can tell you that I loved every single moment of the last 10 years here at Arizona Western College."
Corr took a moment to thank each of the governing board members as well, some of whom were part of the search committee that hired him.
"That's made all the difference for us being able to do what we've done together to have strong, stable board leadership," he said.
"What a decade it has been!" AWC District Governing Board President Dennis Booth commented. "We look forward to spending some time together this year celebrating all Dr. Corr's accomplishments. Our board feels very fortunate to have attracted and retained the visionary leadership and talent of Daniel Corr. He has truly been transformative for the students and communities in our district. We are grateful for his service."
Corr’s tenure has also overseen a wide range of capital improvements, including the new Matador Activity Center, the AWC Transfer Center, the Law Enforcement Training Academy, the DeAnza Residence Hall and a forthcoming Health Careers Center in partnership with Onvida Health.
Per AWC, Dr. Corr will be remembered for his celebration and promotion of AWC’s First Generation students. Nearly 7 out of 10 AWC students today are the first in their family to attend college.
Another accomplishment under his time at the helm? The development of a model for Career and Technical Education that’s been recognized both nationally and globally: the Arizona Western Entrepreneurial College. According to AWC, it "upends the traditional higher education structure to create an organization that operates with agility and dedicated resources as the second pillar of the college, alongside the classic transfer education pillar."
Corr explained in his video message that he'll continue serving in his role with the college through graduation "and maybe a week or so after."
"I look forward to watching Arizona Western College continue to grow, continue to thrive, continue to fulfill our mission of transforming lives through education and partnerships to create thriving communities," he said. "I'm here to support our next leader and I'll be chairing AWC and the Matadors from afar. I really have to tell you that it's been an amazing decade to be a Matador."
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
