Chapman has been in the North Carolina Community College System for thirty-three years. She currently serves as the president of Central Carolina Community College (CCCC), a position she has held since April 2019.

She began her career as a biologist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, but after a few years moved into formal teaching and learning, spending several years at CCCC. Her tenure at the college included serving as a biology instructor, math and sciences department chair, academic dean, and Executive Vice President for Instruction/Chief Academic Officer overseeing instruction as well as recruiting and academic learning support services. Chapman left CCCC in 2014 to serve as the Sr. Vice President/Chief Academic Officer of the North Carolina Community College System, a position she held for 5 years before returning to Central Carolina as president.

In addition to her full-time responsibilities, Chapman also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Practice at North Carolina State University Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research and the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development in the College of Education.

She has engaged in several state and national initiatives, including supporting the development of North Carolina Community Colleges’ Student Success Center and the national work of Jobs For the Future’s Policy Leadership Trust. She currently serves on advisory boards at varied universities in North Carolina, the Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council, and three local Economic Development Boards as well as the Research Triangle Regional Partnership Board.  In addition, she has the honor of participating as an Aspen New Presidents Fellow in the 20-21 inaugural Fellowship Class.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from UNC-Chapel Hill, Master of Science in Physiology from East Tennessee State University, and Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from UNC-Chapel Hill.