Board Member Profiles
Send an email to the publicly elected board members by clicking here: Email Board of Trustees
PATRICK J. AHRENS (Trustee Area 2)
Ahrens was elected to an at-large position on the Board of Trustees in November 2018 and
reelected without opposition in 2022 to represent Trustee Area 2. He is a Sunnyvale
resident and Silicon Valley native who has advocated to expand access and affordability
for community college students as the district director for Assemblymember Evan Low
in California Assembly District 28. An active community volunteer, he served on the
board of directors of the 澳门摇钱树资料大全-De Anza Foundation prior to his election. Ahrens
became deeply interested in higher education policy as a student at De Anza College
when he was the first in his family to go to college and was elected to serve as student
trustee on the 澳门摇钱树资料大全's governing board. He holds
an associate degree from De Anza College, a bachelor's degree in political science
from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master's degree in public administration
from San Jose State University. His term on the board expires in 2026. Contact Ahrens
at ahrenspatrick@fhda.edu or through the Chancellor's Office at (650) 949-6100.
LAURA CASAS (At large)
Casas was elected to the Board of Trustees without opposition in 2007 after being appointed
to the board in 2005, and was reelected in 2012, 2016, and 2020. She holds a law degree
from Santa Clara University and a bachelor's degree in political science from California
State University, Northridge. Active at the state and local levels, Casas was elected
by her peers in 2011 to the statewide Trustees Board of the Community College League
of California and is past chair of the League's Advisory Committee on Legislation.
She is a graduate of the HOPE Leadership Institute operated by Hispanas Organized
for Political Equality, and serves on the boards of Children Now, a national organization
that makes children a public policy priority, and ALearn, a grassroots organization
dedicated to underrepresented students' success in college. For the past decade she's
mentored students through Puente, an academic preparation program focused on college
success. Her past activities include the 澳门摇钱树资料大全-De Anza Foundation Board of Directors,
Santa Clara County's 6th District PTA, and the Santa Clara County League of Women
Voters' Education Committee. She co-founded a transitional home for domestic violence
victims in Los Angeles and has worked as a claims representative for an international
commercial liability carrier. Her term expires in 2024. Contact Casas at casaslaura@fhda.edu or through the Chancellor's Office at (650) 949-6100.
PEARL CHENG, Vice President (Trustee Area 4)
Cheng was appointed in 2008 to fill a vacancy in an at-large position on the Board of Trustees,
elected without opposition in 2009, reelected in 2014 and 2018, and elected without
opposition to represent Trustee Area 4 in 2022. Cheng is a resident of Cupertino who
served for eight years on the Cupertino Union School District Board of Education and
held leadership positions with the Santa Clara County School Boards Association. She
has served on the De Anza Commission, an auxiliary of the 澳门摇钱树资料大全-De Anza Foundation
that represents De Anza College in the community. She worked for many years at the
NASA Ames Research Center, most recently as associate director for management operations
in information sciences and technology. Following her high-tech experience, she worked
for a decade in non-profits, serving as the education manager at United Way Silicon
Valley developing literacy, intervention and parent education programs in Santa Clara
County. In March 2016, she was an invited participant at the College Promise Initiative
planning meeting at the White House. Cheng has served for a number of years as a substitute teacher in two local public
school districts. She volunteered as a contact tracer and case investigator for the
county during the height of the pandemic. Cheng holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor's
in engineering from the University of Iowa. Her term expires in 2026. Contact Cheng
at chengpearl@fhda.edu or through the Chancellor's Office at (650) 949-6100.
PETER LANDSBERGER, President (At large)
Landsberger was elected to the Board of Trustees in November 2016 and reelected in 2020. He has
lived in Los Altos since 1978, the year he was named 澳门摇钱树资料大全-De Anza's first general
counsel. He was subsequently promoted to the position of vice chancellor, serving
as the chancellor's chief deputy responsible for supervising all district office operations.
Now retired, his 30-year career in community colleges includes service as president
of the College of San Mateo, senior vice chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College
District, and interim chancellor of the Los Angeles district. The chancellor of the
California Community Colleges later appointed him special trustee of the Compton Community
College District after Compton College lost its accreditation, a position he held
for four years. He has served on the boards of the 澳门摇钱树资料大全-De Anza Foundation, the
Community School of Music & Arts in Mountain View, the San Jose-Silicon Valley Chamber
of Commerce Foundation, and UNITE鈥揕A, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles that
seeks to expand college access to underserved youth in the Los Angeles region. He
holds a juris doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley, a bachelor鈥檚
degree in political science from UC Berkeley, and an associate degree in political
science from Santa Monica College. His term expires in 2024. He can be contacted at
landsbergerpeter@fhda.edu or through the Chancellor's Office at (650) 949-6100.
GILBERT WONG (At large)
Wong was elected to the Board of Trustees in November 2016 and reelected in 2020. He served
for nine years on the Cupertino City Council, twice holding the positions of mayor
and vice mayor. After earning an associate degree at West Valley College and a bachelor鈥檚
degree at San Jose State University, he began working in his family real estate investment
and property management business. He served for three years as a volunteer on the
De Anza Commission, an auxiliary of the 澳门摇钱树资料大全-De Anza Foundation that represents
De Anza College in the community. His extensive community experience includes leadership
positions in the Rotary Club of Cupertino, Cupertino Chamber of Commence, Cupertino
Educational Endowment Foundation, Asian American Parent Association, Asian Pacific
American Leadership Institute, and the Organization of Chinese Americans Silicon Valley
chapter. He completed the certificate program for senior executives in state and local
government offered by the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.
His term expires in 2024. Contact Wong at wonggilbert@fhda.edu or through the Chancellor's Office at (650) 949-6100.
STUDENT TRUSTEES
Iris Li, De Anza College
Li is De Anza College's elected student representative on the Board of Trustees for
the 2024-25 academic year. Li is a first year student at De Anza College majoring
in cognitive science with a specialization in human-computer interaction. Prior to
being elected to the Board of Trustees, Li was involved in the De Anza Student Government鈥檚
Administration, Finance, and Marketing committees. Li鈥檚 personal academic interests
include brain-computer interfaces and computational cognitive science. As student
trustee, Li鈥檚 goal is to make sure all student voices are represented and to advocate
for student needs at the district level to best support De Anza College.Contact Li at dastudenttrustee@fhda.edu or through the Chancellor's Office at (650) 949-6100.
Zara Ainge, 澳门摇钱树资料大全 College
Ainge, who is studying molecular biology, has been elected as 澳门摇钱树资料大全鈥檚 student representative
on the Board of Trustees for the 2024-2025 academic year. Ainge is an active member
of the Associated Students of 澳门摇钱树资料大全 College and stands proudly as the founding
president of 澳门摇钱树资料大全鈥檚 Asian American Association (AAA) with 100+ members. Her active
involvement at 澳门摇钱树资料大全 extends to her role as founding president of the Health in
Action club, where she leads and organizes each quarterly blood drive. Outside 澳门摇钱树资料大全,
Zara works as a research intern at Stanford School of Medicine, working toward treatments
for rare auto-immune diseases.Understanding the importance of being a leader and uplifting
student voices, Zara wants to use her position to promote equitable representation
and create an environment that allows students to thrive under any circumstances.Contact
Ainge at zaraainge@gmail.com or through the Chancellor's Office at (650) 949-6100.
The district began the transition to trustee area elections in November 2022, with governing board members elected to represent Trustee Area 2 (Central Sunnyvale) and Trustee Area 4 (Cupertino and small portions of west San Jose, southwestern Santa Clara, and northern Saratoga). Trustees elected to serve in at-large positions in 2020 will continue serving in those positions until the election to represent Trustee Area 1 (Mountain View and portions of north Sunnyvale and northeast Los Altos), Trustee Area 3 (Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and portions of south Sunnyvale and northwest Cupertino), and Trustee Area 5 (Palo Alto and Stanford) in November 2024. More information about trustee area elections is available HERE.