VP Instruction Finalists Open Forums
Members of the campus community will have an opportunity to attend open forums with three candidates selected as finalists for the position of Vice President of Instruction, to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 29 and 30.
The finalists are Moaty Fayek, Ed.D., vice president of Academic Affairs at Gavilan College; Ram Subramaniam, Ph.D., vice president of Student Success and Teaching Excellence at Hartnell College; and Lydia Hearn, currently Interim Vice President of Instruction at De Anza College.
Each candidate will speak and answer questions during separate open forums in the Campus Center's Fireside Room, at the times listed below. These forums are open to everyone and feedback forms will be available for you to give input.
If you’re unable to attend the forums, video recordings will be available on this webpage beginning on Thursday, May 1. You can also submit feedback through an online form, which will be posted on the webpage with the recordings. Feedback should be submitted no later than noon on Monday, May 5.
The three finalists were selected by a hiring committee composed of faculty members, classified professionals and administrators. A final selection by President Omar Torres will be submitted for approval by the district Board of Trustees. Below, you’ll find biographies submitted by each finalist.
Moaty Fayek
- Open Forum: Tuesday, April 29 – 2:15-3:15 p.m.
Moaty Fayek is an experienced visionary higher education leader with a keen sense of strategy
and forward thinking, acquired over three decades as an educator, administrator and
entrepreneur. With experience in the public and private sector, he is an effective
leader who thinks strategically and creatively, communicates concisely and compellingly,
and is committed to ethics and professionalism.
Fayek’s skills include building concensus and motivating individuals and groups, while supervising with a collegial, participatory style and building relationships with internal and external constituencies. Fayek possesses extensive experience in enrollment management, curriculum development and accreditation.
Fayek currently serves as the vice president of Academic Affairs and accreditation liaison officer at Gavilan College, where his accomplishments include restructuring academic affairs, preparing the institutional self-study report and developing a strategic enrollment management plan. He also led the creation of the college’s data portal and verification processes, including accounting methods and optimal scheduling practices, resulting in a significant increase in Full-Time Equivalent Students (FTES).
Previously, Fayek was dean of the Business, Computer Science and Applied Technologies Division at De Anza College. He also was a computer science faculty member, department chair and graduate advisor at California State University, Chico, and interim vice president of Workforce Development and Institutional Advancement at Foothill College.
While at De Anza, Fayek received the League for Innovation in the Community College’s Excellence Award in 2023, after winning state approval for the college’s new bachelor’s degree in Automotive Technology Management. He also received a 2021 Equity Champion Award at De Anza for dedication to serving students and closing the equity gap.
Fayek has a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cairo University, a master’s degree in Computer Science from California State University, Chico, and a doctorate from the Community College Leadership Program at Ferris State University. His dissertation focused on barriers and influencers for African American and Latinx students in STEM education.
Ram Subramaniam
- Open Forum: Wednesday, April 30 – 9:15-10:15 a.m.
Ram Subramaniam currently serves as the vice president of Student Success and Teaching Excellence
at Hartnell College. In this role, he has led transformative efforts, including the
realignment of academic divisions to align with Guided Pathways, establishment of
the offices of Workforce Development and Distance Education, and diversification of
the academic leadership team.
Collaborating closely with instructional deans and student services, he has implemented an annual course schedule for the 2025–26 academic year that allows students to enroll in a full year of classes in advance. He is also spearheading the development of a districtwide infrastructure for professional learning through Hartnell’s participation in the Achieving the Dream initiative, which includes the creation of a Teaching and Learning Center. His leadership approach is transformational, equity-minded and consensus-driven, guided by inclusive dialogue and data-informed decision-making.
Previously, Subramaniam served as dean of the STEM and Health Sciences divisions at Foothill College. During his tenure, he led a comprehensive redesign of the program review process and developed institutional resource allocation guidelines. He transformed the Science Learning Institute into an equity-focused program supporting minoritized students in STEM and launched a credit-bearing certificate pathway for incarcerated learners in partnership with Elmwood Correctional Facility.
Subramaniam began his community college career at De Anza College, where he taught chemistry for nine years and served as department coordinator and curriculum committee co-chair. One of his proudest achievements there was creating an open-access lab manual for the general Chemistry sequence, which is still in use. He has also taught at Santa Clara University and Hamilton College.
Subramaniam holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Kentucky, where he studied biochemical markers of Alzheimer’s disease. He also earned a master’s degree in Chemistry and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India.
Lydia Hearn
- Open Forum: Wednesday, April 30 – 2:15-3:15 p.m.
As interim vice president of Instruction of De Anza College since January 2024, Lydia Hearn has co-led the college’s strategic planning efforts. Working collaboratively with
faculty and divisions, she has commenced with the expansion of dual enrollment, noncredit
opportunities and flexible scheduling to increase student retention and success. She
has served on the negotiations team for collective bargaining, using an interest-based
bargaining approach. Hearn has also led the college’s enrollment management efforts,
resulting in an enrollment increase of 4-5% in the past two years.
Hearn has extensive leadership experience at De Anza, along with a deep commitment to student equity. She joined the college as an English faculty member in 2000 and was president of the Academic Senate from 2005-2007, interim dean of the Language Arts Division from 2007-2008, and interim associate vice president of Instruction on two occasions – from 2008-2010 and again for six months in 2021-2022.
She also has played a key role in several important initiatives, including as the project director for the Title III Strengthening Institutions Program grant and Guided Pathways co-coordinator from 2019-2021. From 2017-2019, she coordinated the campaign to expand use of Open Educational Resources. In all these roles, Hearn consistently implemented opportunities for professional development, such as co-founding the Partners in Learning Conference and subsequent institute.
As a faculty member, Lydia has been involved in several Learning Communities: She was an instructor and co-coordinator for the Puente Project from 2013-2021. She co-founded and served as an instructor for REACH, and taught for Sankofa Scholars – a forerunner to the Umoja program. She also taught in Summer Bridge and coordinated the Honors program.
Hearn holds bachelor's and master's degrees and is ABD in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara.