Cynthia S. Bambara

Dr. Cynthia S. Bambara is Allegany College of Maryland’s (ACM) fifth president and the first woman to lead the Cumberland-based community college in its more than 50-year history.

A Pennsylvania native, Dr. Bambara came to ACM from Virginia, where she was a veteran community college administrator. She had served as interim president of Central Virginia Community College, which she guided in a Virginia Community College System appointment as CVCC searched for a permanent leader.

Dr. Bambara went to Lynchburg from Lord Fairfax Community College, where she had been vice president of student success since 2004. She also served as chief administrative officer for LFCC’s Fauquier Campus in Warrenton. First employed as a student services specialist in 1992, she later became a counselor and director of student services.
Prior to joining LFCC, Dr. Bambara worked as a career and academic counselor at Northern Virginia Community College, Furman University and the Florida Department of Rehabilitative Services.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Juniata College and a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University of South Alabama. In 2007 she earned a doctorate of philosophy in Community College Leadership from Colorado State University.
Dr. Bambara’s appointment followed an extensive national search involving all college constituent groups, ACM campuses in Bedford and Somerset counties in Pennsylvania and the larger Allegany County community.

Her first day as ACM’s chief executive officer was March 21, 2011. Dr. Cynthia Bambara’s official inauguration as the fifth President of Allegany College of Maryland is planned for September 14, 2012.