Executive Director Elected Mississippi Humanities Chair

Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director Rod A. Risley has been elected Chair of the Mississippi Humanities Council, a private nonprofit corporation funded by Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Council sponsors, supports, and conducts a wide range of programs designed to promote understanding of Mississippi's cultural heritage, interpret common experience, foster critical thinking, encourage reasonable public discourse, strengthen a sense of community, and set a vision for the future.

Risley was elected to a two-year term. He succeeds Dr. Willis Lott, president of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Community colleges have a tradition of involvement with the Mississippi Humanities Council, Risley said. The Council's founding Executive Director, Dr. Cora Norman, is a Phi Theta Kappa alumna, and past Chairs of the Council also include Dr. Ted Alexander, former president of Pearl River Community College, and Dr. Billy Thames, former president of Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

"If ever there was a perfect marriage of missions, it would be a marriage of community colleges and state humanities councils," said Risley. "Community colleges serve as community and cultural building institutions. State humanities councils build community and cultural appreciation by conducting and sponsoring community-based programs that serve to inform, educate and unify diverse audiences. Often, it is only through open discussion of important and sometimes contentious issues, that we are able to build cultural understanding and appreciation, and find common ground."

Risley was named Phi Theta Kappa's second Executive Director in 1985. He is a graduate of San Jacinto College and received a baccalaureate degree from Sam Houston State University. Risley received a master of business administration degree from Millsaps College. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation in the Community College Leadership Program at Mississippi State University.

Since Risley became executive director, Phi Theta Kappa has experienced unparalleled growth, doubling the numbers of chapters and increasing membership by some 400 percent. Phi Theta Kappa has become a strong presence in the international higher education arena, and in 2006 chartered chapters in the United Arab Emirates, the British Virgin Islands, and the Pacific republics of Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. The Society inducts nearly 100,000 students annually, and is the largest honor society in higher education in terms of chapters and number of members.

Risley recently announced plans to launch a new initiative to help all community college students begin to plan their transfer from the time of their enrollment in their two-year institution. The program will specifically address such challenges pertinent to community college students as access to counselors and information concerning financial aid, transfer credits and transfer procedures.

Risley also helped create Phi Theta Kappa's nationally acclaimed Leadership Development Studies Program, which is now offered in 400 colleges in 49 states.

Under Risley's leadership, procurement of scholarship funds for Phi Theta Kappa members has been a top priority. Today, more than 600 four-year colleges and universities in all 50 states, Canada and Great Britain, in addition to four online institutions, offer $36 million in scholarships exclusively for Phi Theta Kappa members.

He led efforts to establish the All-USA Academic Team for Community and Junior Colleges, the New Century Scholars Program, the All-State Academic Team Program, the Guistwhite Scholarships and the Leaders of Promise Scholarships, all providing financial resources to assist community college students in their educational pursuits.

Through Risley's leadership, Phi Theta Kappa helped to establish the first formal collaborative relationship among honor societies in senior colleges, two-year colleges, and high schools. Phi Beta Kappa, the National Honor Society for high schools students and Phi Theta Kappa announced the formation of The Alliance for Educational Excellence, a unified programming initiative to advance general studies at all levels of education.

Risley serves on the National Commission for Academic and Student Development for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), and on the Board for the Mississippi Center for Non-profit Organizations. He has served as a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation and AACC, and a national judge for the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship Foundation, and Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. In 2001, he was named a Fellow in the Mid-South Community College Fellowship Program. Risley has been named a Distinguished Alumnus by the American Association of Community Colleges and San Jacinto College.