Dr. Eric Heiser proudly serves as the sixth President & CEO of Coconino Community College (CCC) in Flagstaff, Arizona. He guides a college of passionate faculty and staff who are dedicated to changing the lives of their students. He has worked in higher education nearly two decades starting as a full-time faculty member and progressing to senior leadership. He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Colorado State University.

Prior to assuming the presidency at CCC, Dr. Heiser was the inaugural Provost of Central Ohio Technical College (COTC). He served as the Chief Academic, Student Support, and Workforce officer for COTC.

Dr. Heiser started his career as a faculty member at Central Wyoming College (CWC) and taught in the areas of business, management, and criminal justice.  He also spent time as a director and workforce training coordinator during his time at CWC.  He spent six years at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) serving first as an Associate Dean and then moving into a Dean role. He and his team built one of the nation’s largest Competency-Based Education (CBE) programs, from which the college was recognized nationally by multiple outlets.  He has delivered over three dozen conference presentations and key notes and published several articles on the topic of CBE and academic innovation over the past 10 years.  Dr. Heiser was appointed as a content expert to the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse to advise the department on best practices in career and technical education and guided pathways.

Dr. Heiser is the immediate past Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), an international network of institutions and organizations dedicated to improving graduation rates and eliminating equity gaps through quality CBE programs.  In addition to his work in CBE, Dr. Heiser is the past President of the Board for the National Council of Instructional Administrators (NCIA), an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).  He has also recently completed a three-year term on AACC’s Commission on Workforce and Economic Development. Dr. Heiser and his wife, Amy, have two daughters, Sophie, and Emma.