Dr. Shirley Gordon, Phi Theta Kappa Board Vice Chairman and Foundation Trustee, Dies
Jackson, MS - Dr. Shirley B. Gordon, longtime Chairman of the Board of Directors
of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, President Emeritus of
Highline Community College, and a former AACC Board member, died September
20 in Burien, Washington.
A program celebrating Dr. Gordon's
life and accomplishments was held October 4 on the campus of Highline College,
which Dr. Gordon helped establish and later served as the college president.
Executive Director Risley; current Highline President Dr. Jack Bermingham;
former Phi Theta Kappa National President and current Highline faculty
member Terry Sell; and Dr. Gordon's longtime friend and colleague Virgil
Staiger were among participants.
Colleagues remembered Shirley
Gordon as a quiet leader, a passionate advocate for community colleges
and a visionary who valued education and learning. As one of the first women
college presidents when she assumed the presidency at Highline in 1976,
she quickly earned the respect of her contemporaries.
"Dr.
Gordon was the consummate teacher - she taught me the importance of being
fair, how to listen carefully and to think first - she was by definition a
renaissance person - a reader, a thinker, a leader," said another community
college leader who cited Dr. Gordon as a mentor - Phi Theta Kappa Executive
Director Rod Risley.
"Shirley Gordon was an early pioneer and
an outstanding leader in the development of the Community College movement
across our nation," said Dr. Dale Parnell, AACC President Emeritus. "During
my decade as the President of the American Association of Community Colleges
I often turned to Shirley Gordon for advice and help. She was a student-centered
leader ... She would often say, 'Students come first!'."
Among
the former students who revered Dr. Gordon are two former International
Presidents of Phi Theta Kappa, Dr. Stephanie Meissen and Cassius Johnson,
who served with her on the Society's Board of Directors.
"Every
decision she made as Chairman was made based on the best interests, not of
a select few, but of the thousands of members in community colleges across
the globe who relied on her leadership to ensure the further growth and continued
progress of our organization," said Meissen, now a resident at Oklahoma
State University College of Medicine.
"For more than 30 years,
as a college president and as a Board member, Dr. Gordon's leadership has
provided a clear vision and direction for Phi Theta Kappa. That along with
her contagious laugh will be missed, yet will endure through the legacy
of excellence that she leaves behind," said Johnson, now Director of National
and Federal Policy for Jobs for the Future, in Washington, D.C.
As
time passed Dr. Gordon became a valued mentor, guiding others into positions
of leadership.
"Dr. Gordon was a champion for community colleges
and an untiring advocate for women in education. She never backed down from
the tough issues but faced them squarely while keeping a gracious and dignified
demeanor. Her legacy is carried forth by all those whose lives she touched,"
said Dr. Patricia Bell, President of North Idaho College and a former President
of Highline.
Dr. Gordon's long and distinguished career as
an educator earned her numerous recognitions and honors, including the
AACC National Leadership Award, presented to her in 2005; and the Communicator
of the Year Award, presented by the National Council for Community Relations,
in 1985. She served on the AACC Board of Directors from 1978-1981, and the
Board of the President's Academy, 1980-83.
In 1981 Dr. Gordon
was one of only 18 educators, and the only community college representative,
invited to serve on President Reagan's National Commission on Excellence
in Education. She was one of the authors of "A Nation At Risk," the Commission
report that is credited for bringing a revitalization in the national public
education systems.
Dr. Gordon was Chairman of Phi Theta Kappa
Board of Directors for a record 20 years, and at the time of her death was Vice
Chairman of the Board and a founding Trustee of the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation.
She was named an International Honorary Member of Phi Theta
Kappa, and the Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction, recognizing outstanding
service by college presidents, is named in her honor.
Dr. Gordon
held bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees from Washington State University
and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Seattle University. She was
one of the early faculty members at Highline Community College, and served
as president of the college from 1976-1990.
A tribute
page honoring Dr. Shirley Gordon has been posted on the Phi Theta
Kappa website. Visit the tribute
page to learn more about Dr. Gordon's life and career, to read remarks
from educational leaders and Phi Theta Kappa constituents, and post comments.
A photo gallery and information about memorial gifts in Dr. Gordon's honor
are also available on the tribute page.
Phi Theta Kappa International
Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest
honor society in American higher education with 1,250 chapters on two-year
and community college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany,
the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated
States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates
and U.S. territorial possessions. More than two million students have
been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 100,000 students
inducted annually.
