Ex-Officio Board Representative

Dr. Rick Aman

Dr. Rick Aman was selected as the inaugural President of College of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls in December 2017 after an extensive nationwide search. CEI was created with a citizen’s vote in Bonneville County in May 2017. Prior to CEI, Aman was the President of Eastern Idaho Technical College since July 2015.

Aman has a long career in educational leadership. Prior to leading College of Eastern Idaho, Aman served for a year as the interim Vice President of Student Services for Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. He also served as Vice President of Instruction and Student Affairs at the College of Western Idaho in Boise from 2008-2012. At the time, CWI was newly formed through the creation of a community college taxing district in the Treasure Valley in 2007. Aman was responsible for the startup of CWI in the areas of instruction, curriculum development, and student affairs.

Aman was recently appointed to the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) Commission and serves on the Executive Commission as a representative from Idaho. He serves on a variety of local non-profit boards and is a member of many civic organizations.

Aman has a doctorate in Community College Leadership from Oregon State University, an MBA in Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Western Oregon University. 

The Amans were originally from Oregon. He was commissioned as an Air Force Officer after college graduation and spent four years on active duty flying several types of aircraft. He and his wife left active duty moving back to the Portland area where he was an Air Force Reserve Instructor Pilot flying C-130 aircraft in a combat search and rescue role out of Portland International. He retired as a lieutenant colonel with 21 years of service and 5,000 flight hours. Dr. Aman’s community college administration career began in 1992 at Portland Community College with 16 years of teaching and administrative responsibilities at various campus locations around Portland. Aman and his wife, Linda, have been married for 40 years and have two grown sons living in the Portland area.