News & Events

VERSAILLES, Ky. (February 27, 2009) - The Kentucky Community and Technical College System's (KCTCS) first and only chancellor, Dr. Keith W. Bird, has announced he will retire this year.  An exact date has not been determined, but it is anticipated his retirement could come as early as late June. 

"Dr. Bird has been instrumental in KCTCS' success over the past ten years and his expertise and leadership within the state's postsecondary education sector will be hard to replace," said KCTCS President Michael B. McCall.  "We are currently working with Dr. Bird to ensure a seamless transition plan is in place as we move forward in our mission to provide Kentuckians with a quality postsecondary education that is both accessible and affordable."

Dr. Bird was appointed chancellor of KCTCS in February 1999.  He currently oversees systemwide academic and student affairs, global studies, grants, contracts, and workforce/economic development initiatives. Additionally, he oversees the Kentucky Fire Commission and the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services.  Under his leadership, KCTCS has successfully integrated technical and general education curricula and significantly expanded services to business and industry.  

He has had extensive experience with foundation and federal grants, including the Kellogg Foundation and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, as well as a number of Department of Labor and National Science Foundation programs. He has been instrumental in developing new initiatives including advanced automotive manufacturing, the Kentucky Information Technology Center, and the Kentucky Coal Academy. Dr. Bird also served as Director of Kentucky's Ford Foundation "Bridges to Opportunity" project.  This project is designed to bring about changes in state policy that improve education and employment outcomes for educationally and economically disadvantaged adults.

He has sponsored new innovations in virtual and simulation-based learning and an extensive re-engineering of both institutional and instructional practices including new approaches to competency based learning and the modularization of the curriculum.

"Dr. Bird has been a man in the trenches since the creation of KCTCS, working to combine the technical colleges with the community colleges into the successful system it is today," said Margaret Lane, former KCTCS historian.

Prior to KCTCS, Dr. Bird held several statewide positions including Higher Education/Business Liaison with the New Hampshire Governor's Office, and Director of Operations and Training for New Hampshire's federal Job Training Partnership Act program. He also served as Deputy Commissioner of New Hampshire's Community and Technical College System and president of three colleges in New Hampshire and South Carolina.  Additionally, Dr. Bird established a manufacturing extension program for the National Institute of Standards and Technology in New Hampshire and directed a nationally recognized Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education focusing on the integration of National Skills Standards on pedagogy and curriculum. In addition to his work with community colleges, he has extensive experiences as a chief administrator at both the university level and the for-profit sector of postsecondary education.

Dr. Bird received his B.A. from Alma College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University.  In 1969-70 he studied as a Fulbright Scholar and Duke University exchange student at the Free University in Berlin and in 1975 as a fellow of the Military History Research Office in Freiburg.  He is also an author who has written extensively on German military history.

Dr. Bird's next step in his professional journey will be to continue providing policy leadership and support to postsecondary education, particularly community and technical colleges, by focusing on adult learning, workforce education and economic developments at both the state and national levels.