Macomb Community College has narrowed its hunt for a new president to three contenders, setting the stage for a closely watched leadership change as longtime President James O. Sawyer IV prepares to retire at the end of the college's fiscal year.
The finalists are Elizabeth (Libby) Argiri, Lori M. Gonko and Charles W. Lepper. Each will sit for trustee interviews and face the public in campus forums in early March, a mini political campaign of sorts that will help determine who steers Macomb's workforce and transfer programs heading into the next academic year.
The three names and the public interview schedule were first reported by the Macomb Daily, which lists Argiri's interview for Tuesday, March 3, Gonko's for Wednesday, March 4, and Lepper's for Thursday, March 5, with board interviews set for 7 p.m. in the Center Campus University Center (UC1) lecture hall.
Who the finalists are
Elizabeth "Libby" Argiri currently serves as Macomb's executive vice president for administration and is a certified public accountant with an MBA and more than two decades of service at the college. According to Macomb Community College, Argiri joined the institution in 2001 and oversees finance, IT, facilities and related operations, putting her at the center of the college's day-to-day infrastructure.
Lori M. Gonko is serving as interim president at Henry Ford College and arrives with extensive community-college leadership experience, including strategic planning and accreditation work. Her biography on Henry Ford College notes that she joined HFC in 2012 and moved into a vice presidential role overseeing strategy and human resources before being tapped as interim president in 2025.
Charles W. Lepper, Ph.D., brings more than 25 years of higher-education leadership experience and has served as president of Grand Rapids Community College since 2023. GRCC highlights his background in student affairs and enrollment management, experience that Macomb's search advisory committee identified as particularly valuable for the college's next leader.
Search process and timeline
Macomb launched a national search in late 2025, hiring RH Perry & Associates and naming a 14-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee to screen applicants, according to Macomb Community College. The same announcement notes that President James O. Sawyer IV will retire June 30, 2026, setting up a tight but workable window for the board to choose a successor before the new fiscal year kicks in.
Why this matters locally
Macomb serves tens of thousands of students across multiple campuses and awards a high volume of associate degrees, so whoever lands the top job will have a direct hand in shaping the region's workforce pipeline and university transfer routes. The American Association of Community Colleges lists Macomb among Michigan's largest two-year institutions, underscoring how much is riding on this decision for students and employers across the county.
According to the Macomb Daily, trustees will hold public interviews at 7 p.m. March 3–5 at Center Campus, while community forums are scheduled for the mornings of those same days at the South Campus John Lewis Student Community Center. Students, staff and local partners will be able to question the candidates during those sessions, and the college says that feedback will factor into the trustees' deliberations.
Once the interviews wrap and community input is in hand, the board is expected to move toward a final selection, with the next president slated to take office before Sawyer's planned June 30 departure. For more details, the college directs community members to its presidential-search resources and the coverage cited above.
