Joseph Garcia

Joseph A. Garcia (born March 21, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado from January 2011 to May 2016. He is currently the chancellor of the Colorado Community College System. Early life, education and career Joseph A. Garcia was born on March 21, 1957, in Lafayette, Indiana. He attended Austin E. Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, Alaska from 1973 to 1974 and graduated from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1975. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1979 where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business. Garcia then graduated from Harvard Law School in 1983. After law school, Garcia took a job with the firm of Holme Roberts & Owen, going on to become their first Hispanic partner. Garcia worked with the firm from 1983 to 1993. Garcia was appointed by Governor Romer as the Executive Director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies in 1993. In 1999 Garcia was appointed by the White House as the Regional Director of the Rocky Mountain States for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. President at Pikes Peak Community College and CSU Pueblo Garcia was appointed by Gov. Ritter to serve as one of three commissioners from Colorado on the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education and he was reappointed by Gov. Hickenlooper. He served as chair of the commission in 2012. He also served as a member of the board of trustees for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and was previously on the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.