John L. Hoffman, President, 2022-Present

Dr. John L. Hoffman became president of Bemidji State University and NTC: Bemidji’s Technical College on July 1, 2022. Most recently, Dr. Hoffman served as the vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

Dr. Hoffman has spent 30 years working in higher education in roles spanning faculty, academic and student affairs administration, enrollment management, and fundraising. Signature accomplishments have included implementing multi-faceted student success programs credited with increasing student success and retention rates, reducing the first-year retention rate disparities between Black and Indigenous students and students of color and their white counterparts and increasing performance on two-thirds of core learning outcomes for all students during their first year of college.

Dr. Hoffman is an inaugural member of the Council of Presidents for NASPA: Student Affairs Educators in Higher Education, and he also serves as a mentor for the American Association of State College and University’s Millenium Leadership Initiative, a leadership preparation program designed to diversify and enrich the American college presidency. He also serves on multiple local and regional boards and committees, and he is actively engaged in the Presidents’ Leadership Council for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Hoffman is the husband of Dr. Joy Hoffman, the proud stepparent of Hanna and CJ, and the parent of “first pup” Jackson. He enjoys engaging the outdoors of Minnesota and learning to listen to the land, engagement with the arts and entertainment of Bemidji, listening to music, and the annual hope and heartbreak of being a Minnesota Vikings fan.