Phi Theta Kappa Board Chairman Shirley B. Gordon Honored for Lifetime Commitment to Colleges, Students
Dr. Shirley B. Gordon, a distinguished educator for more than 40 years and
a tireless advocate for academic excellence among community college students,
has been selected to receive the 2005 National Leadership Award from the
American Association of Community
Colleges (AACC).
The National Leadership Award is
given based on two principal criteria: outstanding leadership at the national
level over an extended period of time and a long-standing commitment to
community colleges. Dr. Gordon will be recognized at the opening session
of the AACC Annual Convention, scheduled April 9-12, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Gordon is the sixth woman (the first being Phi Theta Kappa's Executive
Director Margaret Mosal) to receive this recognition since the award was
first offered in 1982.
George R. Boggs, AACC president and CEO,
noted that Dr. Gordon now joins a select group of leaders among the nation's
almost 1,200 two-year colleges. "Dr. Shirley Gordon has earned our respect,
our gratitude and our friendship for a lifetime of service. She has demonstrated
exceptional leadership among and on behalf of our colleges and has significantly
advanced academic opportunities for students through her work with Phi
Theta Kappa."
"There could be no more deserving recipient of
this award than our beloved Board chairman, Dr. Shirley B. Gordon," said
Executive Director Rod A. Risley. "She has indeed devoted her life to excellence
in education. As a teacher, a leader, a mentor and friend, she continues
to inspire us all through her keen insights, her leadership and her dedication.
On behalf of our entire Phi Theta Kappa family, we extend our most sincere
congratulations to Dr. Gordon for this premier recognition."
A
distinguished educator and administrator, Dr. Gordon has been a respected
leader in the community college arena for more than 40 years. She served
as President of Highline Community College in Washington State from 1976-90,
and was one of the founders of the college. She has held the position of Chairman
of the Phi Theta Kappa Board
of Directors since 1988, longer than any previous chairman.
As
President of Highline, Dr. Gordon earned a national reputation as an outstanding
community college executive. She was one of 18 educators, and the only community
college representative, selected to serve on President Ronald Reagan's
National Commission on Excellence in Education, convened in 1981,
and was one of the authors of the landmark commission report, A Nation
at Risk, published in 1983. The report is recognized as the first significant
attempt to revitalize the nation's public educational systems and has
been called the most important education reform document of the 20th century.
In 2003 Dr. Gordon was an invited participant in a forum held by the Carnegie
Foundation in New York City commemorating the twentieth anniversary of
the report.
Dr. Gordon has also been a member of the Board of Directors
of the American Association of Community Colleges (1978-81); the Board
of the AACC President's Academy (1980-83); the Board of the Northwest Association
of Schools and Colleges (1978-81); and the Commission on Colleges (1974-81).
She was President of the Washington Association of Community College Presidents
in 1983-84.
Her numerous recognitions include the Leadership
Medallion for college presidents, awarded in 1989; and the Communicator
of the Year Award presented by the National Council for Community Relations,
the national community college public relations organization, in 1985.
The
Shirley
B. Gordon Award of Distinction, named in her honor, is presented
annually by Phi Theta Kappa to distinguished community college presidents
and campus CEOs.
As Chairman of the Phi Theta Kappa Board of Directors,
Dr. Gordon has led the international community college honor society during
its most significant period of growth and development.
She
supported efforts to establish the Society's Leadership
Development Studies Program, a curriculum designed expressively
for community college students. Since its inception in 1992, more than
1,700 community college faculty, representing over 500 institutions,
have been certified as instructors in the course.
During her
chairmanship the Center for Excellence, Phi Theta Kappa's international
headquarters facility located in Jackson, Mississippi, was dedicated
in 1997.
As Chairman of the Phi Theta Kappa Board, Dr. Gordon
has also promoted the development of benefits and increased recognition
for faculty advisors, and has encouraged community college administrators
to support the Society's local, regional and international programs.
She has worked to expand membership benefits, especially in the area of
scholarships. In addition to its partnership with four-year colleges
and universities to develop designated transfer scholarships for members,
Phi Theta Kappa now funds the Guistwhite
Scholarship Program for baccalaureate studies and the Leaders
of Promise Program for associate degree studies. With AACC and
USA TODAY, Phi Theta Kappa has co-sponsored the All-USA
Academic Team for Community Colleges, which annually recognizes
60 community college students and their colleges for excellence in academic
achievement and service.
Dr. Gordon was teaching in the Highline
public school system when she was named to a study committee to bring a two-year
college to the area. She was one of the initial instructors at Highline Community
College when it opened in 1961, and served as Director of Curriculum, Dean
of Instruction and Vice President prior to her appointment as President.
Dr. Gordon was one of the first females to serve as president of a community
college in the state of Washington.
Dr. Gordon is a longtime
member and former Chairman of the Highline Community Hospital's Board
of Directors and the Board of Managers of Judson Park/Caldwell Health Center.
Her activities in the Seattle community also include a term as chairman
of the Sea-Tac Forum, Port of Seattle, and service on the Boards of Leadership
Tomorrow and the Central Puget Sound Economic Development District.
A
dedicated teacher, Dr. Gordon was a chemistry instructor and Science and
Mathematics Director for the Highline schools, and also taught chemistry
at Washington State University and Grays Harbor College.
Dr.
Gordon holds bachelor of science, master of arts and doctorate degrees
from Washington State University. She has done added graduate study at
the University of California-Berkeley, Seattle University, Reed College
and Stanford University.
She received a doctor of humanities,
honoris causa, from Seattle University, in 1984.
