Jabari Simama, the chief of staff for DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis, will be the next president of Georgia Piedmont Technical College.

The state board over the Technical College System of Georgia approved the hire Thursday. Simama starts Sept. 1.

The previous college president, Robin Hoffman, retired more than a year ago.

The college, which is based in Clarkston, enrolls more than 8,000 students and serves DeKalb, Morgan, Newton and Rockdale counties.

Simama's career includes stints in government and higher education. He previously taught at Georgia Tech, Clark Atlanta University and Atlanta Metropolitan College.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com