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Introducing Southwest’s new senior leadership

By Marketing and Communications Staff 

Welcome to Southwest’s new senior leadership. Each of these distinguished leaders began their positions Jan. 17, 2023.  We look forward to their contributions to the college’s student success and in elevating Southwest as a workforce development leader in the Mid-South.  Their congratulatory introductions below were announced by President Tracy D. Hall on Jan. 11. 

Dr. Bonnie Suderman
Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Bonnie Suderman comes to Southwest Tennessee Community College with a long and varied background in Higher Education. Most of her career has been in California, moving from an adjunct instructor in English, Education and Developmental Education at both the community college and university levels, to a tenured professor, faculty leader, dean, and vice president of Academic Affairs/Assistant Superintendent.  

I am excited about Dr. Suderman’s leadership as we continue our focus on strategic planning to position Southwest as “the” Workforce Solutions Center for the Mid-South. 

Dr. Bonnie Suderman
Dr. Bonnie Suderman

Currently, Bonnie enjoys committing to temporary administrative positions, the latest of which was interim provost at West Liberty University in West Virginia.  She has experience leading student learning outcome assessment, accreditation and workforce experience, as well as new program development to meet community and student needs.  

Dr. Suderman’s home base is California, where she has one amazing granddaughter and rescues pudgy pugs with her husband.  
She looks forward to meeting Southwest faculty and staff and working together to grow and strengthen the college and lay the groundwork for a successful transition to a permanent vice president of Academic Affairs.

Dr. Candice Hunter 
Interim Chief Human Resources Officer 

As Interim Chief Human Resources Officer, Dr. Candice Hunter will oversee all Southwest human resources activities, including talent acquisition, benefits and culture. Dr. Hunter is a business psychologist, human resources leader, and educator. She specializes in building the leadership capacity of individuals and teams within organizations. She has spent her career serving in leadership roles that include human resources and human capital strategy management, HR technology transformation and academic administration. 

Dr. Hunter brings a wealth of HR and higher education leadership experience that will serve Southwest well as we move toward a greater emphasis on people and culture. 

Her expertise extends from diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging education, including Title IX and human capital management, to public colleges and universities within urban communities. Her educational expertise is preceded by a successful career as a senior leader in the telecommunications, transportation, and professional services industries. A well-known authority on human resources and leadership issues, she has served as a conference speaker and as a content writer for the aPHR, PHR, and SPHR examinations on behalf of the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). 

Dr. Candice Hunter
Dr. Candice Hunter

Prior to establishing her boutique consultancy, Fluency Management, she served as Vice President of CampusWorks, a professional services firm serving colleges and universities in the United States and Canada leading the human resources transformation work both internally and externally. She was the Chief of Staff and Chief HR Officer of Richmond Public Schools, leading, designing, and implementing a full range of enterprise-wide programs to support executive and leadership development; diversity, equity and inclusion, employee engagement, talent management, change management, technology infrastructure, community partnerships, Title IX, and as liaison to governmental entities. 

Dr. Hunter has experience inside the classroom and in higher education administration. She has taught in the human resources program at Miami Dade College since 2007 and has served as the college’s Kendall Campus School of Business department chair. Dr. Hunter’s passion for teaching, learning, and transferring knowledge extends beyond the classroom. She is an active volunteer with several organizations dedicated to improving the lives of residents in her community. Candice is the recipient of the American Association of University Administrator’s 2021 Donald A. Gatzke Dissertation Award. She earned her Ph.D. in Business Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, an executive MBA from Florida International University, and a Bachelor of Psychology degree from The George Washington University. She has two children who are the pride and joy of her life.


Chuck Thomas III
Chief Government and External Relations Officer

Chuck Thomas III
Chuck Thomas III

Chuck Thomas joins Southwest Tennessee Community College as the chief government and external relations officer. He will build community support to advance the college’s initiatives and collaborate with government, civic, and community leaders to increase awareness and develop intervention and remediation strategies to address issues that impact the future health and safety of the Southwest community. 

He is well-known and respected in the Mid-South region. He has the experience and skills to share the Southwest story and inspire our stakeholders to invest in the future of our students and Southwest. I am confident our influence in the community will only grow under his leadership.

“I’m excited and honored to join the Southwest Tennessee Community College leadership team,” Chuck says. “I look forward to building and strengthening alliances with the greater Memphis and Shelby County community, state legislators, local elected officials and key business leaders.”

Chuck joins Southwest after a 40-year telecommunications career that spanned several account management positions. His most recent post was regional director of external and legislative affairs at AT&T, a position he held from 2009 until his retirement from AT&T this past December after more than 23 years of service.  During his tenure in external affairs, he advanced the telecommunications giant’s public policy initiatives in Greater Memphis and 15 surrounding West Tennessee counties. His efforts ensured successful small cell and AT&T Fiber deployments and successfully positioned AT&T's FirstNet, SLED and National Account teams with key stakeholders throughout the region. Chuck also served the Greater Memphis community as a board member of the Memphis Federal Reserve (Chairman 2014), Greater Memphis Chamber, The United Way of the Mid-South, Memphis Rotary (vice president), Teach For America, LISC Memphis, Bartlett Chamber and LeMoyne-Owen College.  A native Memphian, Chuck grew up in Orange Mound and attended Melrose High school, Mississippi Valley State University, Southwest Tennessee Community College and the University of Memphis where he studied Criminal Justice and Political Science. Chuck and his wife, Sherri, reside in Collierville, Tennessee, and are the proud parents of three adult children and five grandchildren. 


John Churchill 
Community Liaison - Southwest Workforce and Community Solutions

John will play a critical role in the rollout of the Southwest Workforce Solutions Center (SWCS) as he works with community stakeholders to increase career pathways through a diversity of high-quality workforce programs that promote economic mobility for our Southwest students. John knows Memphis, the Mid-South and Tennessee.  I am ecstatic to have someone with his knowledge and expertise on my team.

“Coming back to Southwest feels like coming home,” John says. “I am privileged to be able to work with a great staff as they develop innovative programs to provide local companies and industry with a skilled workforce.  When you see a community that has a strong economy and great jobs for its workforce, typically, there is also a strong community college planted within that community,” he says. “I hope that I can contribute to the quality of Southwest’s workforce development programs and help increase the community’s awareness of Southwest as a strong economic driver in Memphis.”

John Churchill
John Churchill

John began his career as a member of the United States Navy, where he served our country 20 years. During his military service, he supervised testing and assessment systems for the Navy Trident submarine facility and directed operations for an advanced electronic training school. After the military, he joined the Kimberly Clark Memphis tissue manufacturing plant as supervisor of electrical maintenance and technical training. He also served on the startup team for Kimberly Clark’s first fully self-directed facility in Tulsa, OK.  After stints in maintenance operations leadership with Champion Paper and Nabisco in Houston, Texas, John joined Gerdau Ameristeel where he oversaw leadership and technical training at 20 North American steel mills.

Along with manufacturing, John has extensive experience in workforce and economic development. In Memphis, he served as executive director of Corporate Training and Continuing Education at Southwest Tennessee Community College (2011-2015) and later as vice president of Business Services at the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce. His most recent post is chief operations officer for Technology Education to Go, LLC, where he helps area K-12 school districts, nonprofit organizations and businesses develop education pathways to livable-wage careers. John also works with area businesses to improve work culture and increase employee skill levels.  

Welcome to the Saluqi family!