The State Center Community College District trustees on Tuesday selected Douglas B. Houston, chancellor of the Yuba Community College District  in Northern California, to be State Center’s interim chancellor effective May 1.

State Center Chancellor Paul Parnell is stepping down as of July 6, and the district is conducting a nationwide search for his replacement. Parnell has been chancellor since 2016.

The Yuba Community College District has colleges in Yuba and Yolo counties and campuses in Colusa, Lake, and Sutter counties.

Houston has held various leadership roles during his 43-year career, including as an administrator to several community colleges and commander of various military units. He has taught full and part-time at the community college and university level, including as a physics professor at West Point.

Houston served a decade on active duty in the U.S. Army and retired from the U.S. Army Reserves.

He now serves as co-chair of the California Community College Veterans Caucus and is the immediate past-president for the board of the Association of California Community College Administrators. Houston also is on the advisory board for Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research at U.C. Davis and the CSU Sacramento educational doctorate program.

He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from the University of Florida and a doctorate in educational leadership at Pepperdine University.

Houston was the ideal choice to become interim chancellor because of his experience in a community college district with multiple campuses and “successful track record as a respected statewide leader in community colleges,” Board President Annalisa Perea said.