Kenneth Erik Swanson, Ph.D.

Dr. Kenneth Erik Swanson is a member on the WASC Commission representing the Pacific Islands. Dr. Swanson earned a Bachelor of Arts in music education from the University of Nevada, Reno. He received his Master of Education in curriculum and evaluation from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and continued in the Ed.D. program achieving Nevada Administrator Certification and achieved his Ph.D. in leadership in educational administration from Capella University. Over the course of his career in public education, Dr. Swanson taught middle and high school band and choir in Las Vegas, Nevada for eleven years. In 1984 he was offered the opportunity to teach with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) overseas. His DoDEA experience took him to Italy, South Korea, Guam, Japan, and Puerto Rico. He served over 20 years as a K-12 principal and several years as a trainer in the NCA-CASI school improvement model and helped lead DoDEA schools into the AdvancED model. After retiring from the DoDEA system, he returned to his native Pacific Northwest to lead a Title I elementary school in Yakima, WA and then took up the Superintendent challenges in Omak. WA, a rural, high poverty environment hosting a large online virtual K-12 program. Under his leadership, the district became an early adopter of the Cognia System Accreditation model in 2017. Dr. Swanson is credentialed as a Cognia Regional Accreditation Evaluator. Prior to taking up the challenges leading the Guam Department of Education, he led Accreditation Reviews for public and private schools and school systems across the southeastern United States.

Dr. Swanson enjoys a blended family of three adult children, all of whom are educators and seven grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 29 living from Berlin, Germany to Guam. Over the course of his career, he has remained active as a musician including performance in symphony orchestras in Reno, Nevada, Guam, Yakima, Washington, and Omak, Washington as well as enjoying playing with small jazz and pop bands and participating in multiple professional and charitable organizations. The Swansons met on Guam when they both worked in the DoDEA system and were active in the St. John’s Episcopal Church community. They are looking forward to returning to the island and once again contributing to the community and helping to continue to build on the powerful work already under way in the Guam Department of Education.