Former state Rep. Mel Ponder, R-Destin, is one of four finalists scheduled to be interviewed next week to become president of Northwest Florida State College.
The Niceville-based college began searching for a new leader after former President Devin Stephenson was picked in April to become president of Florida Polytechnic University. Ponder, an Okaloosa County commissioner served in the state House from 2016 to 2020.
Other finalists for the college post are R. Gwyn Armfield, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general; James Walter Ross, former president of Pamlico Community College in North Carolina; and Mark Strickland, provost and chief campus officer of the Seminole Campus of St. Petersburg College, according to the Northwest Florida State website.
The candidates are scheduled for campus interviews Monday and Tuesday. The college’s Board of Trustees will choose the next president.