Brief History

Bishop State Community College is a state-supported, open admission urban community college in Mobile, Alabama, and is dedicated to serving the residents of Mobile and Washington counties in southwest Alabama.

Founded in the summer of 1927, the College was originally a Branch of Alabama State College, Montgomery, Alabama. The College began by offering extension courses for in-service teachers only during the summer months and continued this pattern of operation for nine years. It was in September 1936 that the College, which consisted of the Main campus only at the time, was established as a two-year College.

In August 1965, a legislative act declared the Alabama State College Branch Mobile Center a state junior college, which gave the institution its first independent legal status. The College was officially named Mobile State Junior College in November 1965. Several years later, in September 1971, the state Legislature again changed the name of the College to S.D. Bishop State Junior College in honor of its then president, Dr. S.D. Bishop. Upon the death of Dr. Bishop in 1981, Dr. Joseph Christopher Mitchell was selected to serve as interim president.

In September 1981, Dr. Yvonne Kennedy was appointed as the second president of the College. Dr. Kennedy remained the president for nearly a quarter of a century, retiring on July 30, 2007.

In 1989, under Dr. Kennedy's tenure, the name of the College was changed to Bishop State Community College to reflect its growth in vocational/career offerings, transfer offerings and community service activities. On August 22, 1991, the Alabama State Board of Education consolidated two technical colleges in Mobile – Southwest State Technical College and Carver State Technical College – with Bishop State Community College. In 1995, the College added a fourth campus with the opening of its Baker-Gaines Central campus.

Following Dr. Kennedy's retirement, Dr. James Lowe became the interim president on August 1, 2007. He was recommended for the position of president by Chancellor Bradley Byrne on May 19, 2008, and appointed the third president of Bishop State Community College by the Alabama State Board of Education on May 22, 2008.