"Pathways to Excellence"
One of the most prestigious honors in higher education is the Leadership Award presented annually by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the primary advocacy organization for associate degree-granting institutions.
The award is given to individuals in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments and professional contributions to the community college arena. Only college presidents may nominate candidates for the Leadership Award.
Three outstanding Phi Theta Kappa leaders have received this award:
Dr. Margaret Mosal
The first woman to receive this coveted award was the late Dr. Margaret Mosal, Phi Theta Kappa's first Executive Director. During the 50 years Dr. Mosal led the Society, she worked to turn her vision of Phi Theta Kappa into a reality that only she imagined. She saw a future Society that offered not only recognition but opportunities for new and expanded learning experiences. She laid the foundation of today's Society by establishing an Honors Study Topic, a Service Program and the Honors Institute.
In honoring her with the 1985 Leadership Award, the AACC Board of Directors praised Dr. Mosal's "high national visibility and significant commitment to the two-year college."
Dr. Shirley B. Gordon
In 2005 Dr. Shirley B. Gordon, then chairman of Phi Theta Kappa's Board of Directors, became the seventh woman to receive the AACC Leadership Award. Dr. Gordon was the first woman to serve as president of a Washington state community college, and was the only community college educator invited to serve on President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education.
As the longest-serving Chairman of the Society Board of Directors, Dr. Gordon was instrumental in efforts to build the Center for Excellence, which she also named. Other major achievements for Phi Theta Kappa during her tenure as Board Chairman included the creation of the Leadership Development Studies Program, the All-USA, Guistwhite and Leaders of Promise Scholarships, and the notable expansion of benefits for members and faculty advisors. Phi Theta Kappa's premier honor for college presidents, the Shirley B. Gordon Awards of Distinction, are named for her.
Rod A. Risley
Rod Risley, second and current Executive Director of Phi Theta Kappa, received the AACC Leadership Award in 2008 before an audience of college students, faculty and administrators, at the first-ever joint Convention session of AACC and Phi Theta Kappa.
Risley was honored for contributions that have benefited thousands of community college students through expanded access to scholarships, leadership development, honors programs, and service learning.
Risley joined the Phi Theta Kappa Headquarters staff in 1977 and became Executive Director in 1985. He has established landmark programs to promote personal growth and student development through chapter participation and programs available to all community college students.
These include the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Studies Program, CollegeFish.org, numerous scholarship opportunities and the foundation of the Phi Theta Kappa Experience.
Risley has led Phi Theta Kappa to achieve unprecedented growth in terms of members and chapters, and by reaching out to other countries has made Phi Theta Kappa an international organization, with chapters in eight sovereign nations. By working with educational associations and foundations he has created new opportunities for all community college students.
