Office of the President

Dr. Cynthia S. Bambara

Appointed by the Board of Trustees, the president is the chief executive officer of Allegany College of Maryland.

Dr. Cynthia S. Bambara was appointed ACM’s fifth president in 2011. She is the College’s first woman to serve as president.

During her tenure, Dr. Bambara has spearheaded ACM’s major efforts, including the following:

• Accreditation reaffirmation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. 
• Development of the partnership-driven and award-winning Western Maryland IT Center of Excellence.
  • Management of the college through a global pandemic, where operations continued without interruption and all academic programs successfully navigated to bring students to graduation.
• Numerous capital improvements including the complete renovation of the Dr. Robert S. Zimmer Theatre and the Technology Building, the construction of the Western Region Correctional Training Center, and the creation of the Thomas Welcome Center.
• Creation and expansion of an online LPN to RN program, which has grown from a handful of students to more than 150 students from 16 States.
• Development of Western Maryland Works at ACM, which transformed a rundown warehouse into a modern workforce training center and makerspace with over $6 million in equipment. 
• Removal of financial barriers that kept students from joining the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and the attainment of a five star chapter status. 

Dr. Bambara is a veteran community college administrator. She was previously an interim president of Central Virginia Community College and the vice president of Student Success at Lord Fairfax Community College.

She received a Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from Colorado State University, an M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Alabama, and a B.S. in Psychology from Juniata College.

Dr. Bambara received Phi Theta Kappa's Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction in 2016. She was selected as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 2024 and named a Maryland Icon by The Daily Record.

She is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Allegany. Dr. Bambara is involved with a variety of organizations, including the following:

• Allegany County Chamber of Commerce (Past Board Member)
• Bridges to Opportunity (Steering Committee)
• Community Colleges of Appalachia (Board Member)
• Cumberland Rotary Club (Past Board Member and Past President)
• Greater Cumberland Committee (Executive Committee Member and Education and Workforce Development Committee Chair)
• Maryland Association of Community Colleges (Past Chair and former Executive Committee Member)
• Middle States Commission on Higher Education (Peer Evaluator and Team Chair)
• Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society (Advisory Board Member)
• UPMC Western Maryland (Community Advisory Board Member)