Duranda Greene leaves Bermuda College this month with a proud legacy.

Dr Greene, who became the president of the college in 2007, was the youngest candidate as well as the first woman and first alumnus leader to take up the post.

Now, after 16 years of service, she leaves as Bermuda College’s most long-serving president to date.

“Looking back on it, I will say that, even though it’s not been a smooth road, it’s been a productive road,” Dr Greene said.

“I leave with confidence in a couple of weeks’ time knowing I left Bermuda College in a better state.”

Dr Greene, who spent 38 years working at the college, leaves on July 17, and Branwen Smith-King will take her place as interim president.

Dr Greene told The Royal Gazette that most of her career and adult life have been at the college.

She said that she attended the institute from the age of 15 after graduating from the Berkeley Institute.

She attended the college for two years before working for a year and obtaining her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

Dr Greene admitted that she could not see herself counting numbers at a desk “making somebody else rich”, so she decided to get a degree in business education.

It was after this time that Dr Greene was contacted by the college and offered a job.

“I guess I made a good impression on my teachers here,” she said.

“I went in after the summer vacation and the rest is history.”

Dr Greene helped to bring academic advisement to the college alongside colleague Lois Tucker, with her particular focus being on training the advisers.

She later became the head trainer of the school’s quality training initiative and eventually the chairwoman of the Faculty Association.

Dr Greene became the first woman dean of the Faculty of Hotel and Business Administration.

In the role, she introduced a concentration in insurance in the college’s business programme that involved working with the College of Insurance, now known as St John’s University, in New York.

She also introduced a joint bachelor of business administration programme with Mount Saint Vincent University in Canada.

When Dr Greene became the assistant to the president for special projects, she oversaw the implementation of projects such as college courses for working adults and within the Department of Corrections.

She also initiated the distance education initiative, the college’s dual enrolment programme with high schools, and the master's degree joint programme with Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

Dr Greene said that she felt obliged to help to improve Bermuda College’s facilities as best she could because she owed most of her education and career to the institute.

She said: “If it weren’t for the Bermuda College, I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now.”

Dr Greene worked with industries throughout the island to see what skills were the most in demand and adjusted the school’s curriculum to fill this gap.

She added that this included several partnerships and, later, programmes that offered learning in the field.

Dr Greene said: “I truly believe that everyone should have an opportunity to be educated beyond high school, and Bermuda College is a viable option and an economic option.

Dr Greene said that the most difficult challenge was introducing the school’s nursing programme in 2012.

There was a public backlash as doubts were raised about the amount of experience students could get from it.

Dr Greene said: “The main concern was whether nurses should have a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree.

“As I said during that whole situation, Bermuda College is an academic institution, and the nursing profession has to decide whether they’re going to accept a nursing degree or a bachelor’s degree.”

Dr Greene said that the registered nursing exam was ultimately what determined one’s nursing licence.

She said that while it is possible that some to this day still did not approve of the nursing programme, its pass rate was above 80 per cent, with most of its students now employed.

A vote of no confidence in May 2015 also proved to be one of Dr Greene’s most tumultuous moments.

Much of Bermuda College’s staff called into question her ability as president, with criticism aimed at her ability to lead and awareness of the realities of the classroom.

“What made it difficult was how personal it got,” she admitted. “There were questions about what type of car my husband and I drove, which had nothing to do with the situation at hand.

“In the end, I got through it with the grace of God.”

Bermuda College received its re-accreditation that year.

Dr Greene said that, once she retired, she planned to travel for about six months.

She added that she will continue to sit on the board of directors for the Bermuda College Foundation, dedicated to raising funds for the college, and may get into consultancy work.