Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Chris Thomas to serve on the Centralia College Board of Trustees, Centralia College announced Wednesday.
Trustees are appointed by the governor for five-year terms for a maximum of 10 years.
Thomas, who was introduced at the board’s Oct. 16 meeting, replaces Doris Wood-Brumsickle, who ended a 10-year stint on the board in September.
“Doris is irreplaceable, but we’re so excited to bring Chris Thomas on board,” Centralia College President Bob Mohrbacher said. “Chris is deeply connected to Centralia College through his work with Centralia High School and the Centralia School Board, and he has important connections with the health care sector, which is an important field for many of our students. He’s engaged in the community and brings a great perspective and energy to the Centralia College board.”
Thomas has been the senior communications manager for Providence South Puget Sound, which includes Providence Centralia Hospital, Providence St. Peter Hospital, and the clinics of Providence Medical Group Southwest Washington, since 2006. Prior to that, he worked 14 years as a journalist, copy desk chief and editor at The Chronicle in Centralia. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Seattle University.
He currently serves on a number of local community organizations. He is an executive board member for the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce and a board member for Centralia High School Dollars for Scholars and Riverside Golf Men’s Club. He previously served on the Centralia School District board.
“I’m happy to be here,” Thomas said on Monday. “I’ve always been interested in the college and I’m happy to serve the college in this way.”
During the Monday board meeting, Thomas shared that he graduated from Centralia High School and took calculus at the college in the days before Running Start. He also did on-air play-by-play during some early television broadcasts of Blazer basketball games and wrote articles for the Blue & Gold, Centralia College’s former student newspaper, according to Centralia College.
The Centralia College Board of Trustees generally meets on the second Thursday of every month at 3 p.m. in the Hanson Building. Meetings are open to the public.
