Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK) recognized 20 college administrators with the Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction during PTK Catalyst 2024, the Society’s annual convention in Orlando, Florida, April 4-6, 2024.
To be eligible for this award, college presidents and CEOs must have served in their role for at least five years. Recipients are nominated by students on their campus and are only eligible to receive the award once over the course of their career.
The award recognizes college presidents who have shown support of student success initiatives leading to stronger pathways to completion, transfer, and employment. They have taken an active interest in supporting high-achieving students and developing student leaders on campus.
“These college presidents have made it a priority to support student success both inside and outside the classroom,” says Phi Theta Kappa President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner. “This award is special because it comes directly from the students, and it is evidence of the gratitude they feel for the support for them and students like them.”
The Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction is Phi Theta Kappa’s most prestigious award for community college presidents and is named in honor of the late Dr. Shirley B. Gordon, Phi Theta Kappa’s longest-serving Board of Directors Chair and a founder and long-time president of Highline Community College in Washington.
The 2024 recipients are:
| Dr. Rick Aman College of Eastern Idaho Idaho | Dr. Ron Clinton Northeast Texas Community College Texas |
| Dr. John Grosskopf North Florida College Florida | Joyce Helens Great Basin College Nevada |
| Dr. Thomas Huebner Meridian Community College Mississippi | Dr. James “Jim” Klauber Hagerstown Community College Maryland |
| Dr. Georgia Lorenz Seminole State College of Florida Florida | Dr. Donald MacMaster Alpena Community College Michigan |
| Chris Marrs Blinn College-RELLIS Texas | Dr. Annette Parker South Central College Minnesota |
| Dr. Christopher Reber Hudson County Community College New Jersey | Dr. Seamus Reilly Carl Sandburg College Illinois |
| Dr. Lawrence Rouse Pitt Community College North Carolina | David Sanders Malcolm X College Illinois |
| Dr. Roger Schultz Mt. San Jacinto College California | Dr. Kate Smith Rio Salado College Arizona |
| Dr. Brian Stewart Pima Community College Arizona | Dr. Eddie Tealer Dallas College- Eastfield Texas |
| Dr. Walter Tribley Northern Wyoming Community College District Wyoming | Dr. Van Wigginton San Jacinto College- Central Texas |
About Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa is the first honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 4.3 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 countries, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.
