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NCHC colleague and President-Elect of the Great Plains Honors Council, Ebonie Hill shares the following about Carrie, “Ms. Pritchett is what Honors is all about: professional, enthusiastic, a lifelong learner, a supporter
of continuous learning, and a trailblazer for change. She has left her mark on her institution, our regional Honors body, and NCHC in various ways, and she is still giving to these entities from her very full cup.”
As an Associate Professor of History at Brazosport College, Carrie Pritchett has served as the Director of the Honors Program since 2010. In this role, Carrie has continued to develop her program into a strong two-year
college program in the Great Plains Honors Council region. Her students consistently play a prominent role in the region, and her ability to motivate high school students to present high quality research at a collegiate
conference is a testament to her commitment to teaching.
Beyond her work as a professor and Honors Director, Carrie’s scholarship focuses on honors education, and the challenges facing two-year colleges. Tackling such topics as dual credit enrollment and extending the Honors Program to workforce students are
extremely important, yet sometimes overlooked, topics in honors education. In addition to regularly presenting at the NCHC annual conference, Carrie has also presented on honors education at such diverse conferences
as the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges. As her teaching and scholarship activities indicate, Carrie is an exceptional teacher and scholar in honors education at a two-year institution.
In addition to being a dedicated teacher and scholar, Carrie is also a leader in the honors community. She is currently serving as the Secretary for the National Collegiate Honors Council and is actively involved in NCHC.
She co-chairs the Basic Characteristics of Honors Programs and Colleges Review ad Hoc Committee that created the Shared Principles and Practices, as well as the Developing in Honors Conference Selection Committee. She
also serves as a Portz Fellowship Committee Reviewer, and as a member of the Two-Year College and Awards and Grants Committees. Previously, she also served as a member of the Teaching and Learning Committee from 2013
to 2020.
Carrie’s commitment to service and honors education is not limited solely to NCHC, as she is also deeply involved in her regional organization, the Great Plains Honors Council. She is currently serving as the Treasurer,
a position she has held since 2013. Carrie has also served as the Secretary and President, and has been an integral member of the executive committee over the last decade. This commitment extends beyond her regional
organization as she also serves as a member of the Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Honors Council.
Dr. Isaiah Schauer, colleague and Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Brazosport College, shares “Carrie is one of our dazzling treasures among the fully tenured faculty core at Brazosport College. Carrie exemplifies peer
leadership, collegiality, and grace under stress, all while sustaining a masterfully wry sense of humor […] I can think of no one more deserving of the honor of receiving the Brandolini Award than Professor Carrie Pritchett.”
Director of Honors through May of 2023, Rosenberg, “has maintained a program that embodies the highest principles of honors education,” says Dr. Kay Ferguson Ryals, a colleague of Dr. Rosenberg and former director of honors
at Irvine Valley College. “The Saddleback program is built around a vibrant Humanities Core sequence entitled ‘Culture, Science, and Society.’ Administrative support for such an interdisciplinary, team-taught, thematically
based course sequence is rare in community college, which often values expediency over exploration and which must take into consideration the realities of transfer and articulation. The success of the Saddleback Honors
Program thus speaks both to the respect afforded Alannah by faculty and administrators and to her own principled vision of honors education. She is herself an extraordinary teacher, whose own lively intellect and diverse
talents inspire students and colleagues alike. In recognition of her contributions to Saddleback College, she was recognized as 2014 Teacher of the Year.”
Dr. Rosenberg has been an active participant and leader within the NCHC community. She has served on the Two-Year College Committee for many years, and is a current member of the NCHC Board of Directors. Providing many
presentations at NCHC Annual Conferences over the last 15 years, she has shared with others her expertise in subjects such as promoting undergraduate research, forging articulation agreements, creating capstone courses,
and developing best practices in honors pedagogy, particularly through the lens of a two-year institution.
Alannah is equally respected for her leadership at the state level of honors education, as she has been instrumental in both defining and implementing the goals of the Honors Transfer Council of California (HTCC) where she has served on the Conference
Committee and as Chair of Transfer Relations since 2013. Ryals shares that, “in this capacity she has carried out duties of negotiating honors transfer agreements with four-year institutions in the state and across
the country. These agreements bring enormous benefits to the students at all HTCC member colleges. She has formalized agreements with several elite colleges throughout the country and has created a website devoted to
HTCC transfer. All honors students and directors in the state are in her debt.” Other HTCC colleagues included that “Alannah is the embodiment of the proverb ‘to go far, go together’ – because of her, we have all gone
further than we could have alone.”
Ryan Diehl, Director of Honors and recognized by Hutchinson Community College twice as the Educator of the Year, was named as the 2022 Ron Brandolini award winner.
A leader in local, regional and national honors, Diehl shares his passion for the honors community through mentorship, committee leadership, and conference facilitation. His nominators referenced his ability to include
them in numerous projects, maintaining connections and communications with other two-year college directors during the pandemic, at a time when many other social opportunities were interrupted.
Diehl’s commitment to honors and the success of his students is represented in his own body of research. Diehl recently completed his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Higher Education, where his dissertation examined
how honors programs at two-year institutions can provide a pathway to success for first generation students.
Whether you’re a student, a staff member, or an administrator, all can agree honors education is a field in which a leader needs to wear many hats. Those who work closely with Dr. Bruce Thompson say no one wears them better
than him.
“He is the Department Chair of Social Sciences and Education. He is a civil rights historian. He has been a faculty member for close to thirty years,” Dr. Brian Stipelman, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean
of Liberal Arts at Frederick Community College shares of Thompson. “But what he is best known for, and the work he is most passionate about is facilitating honors learning. He has served as the Honors Coordinator at
FCC for over a decade and infuses the philosophy of ‘Deeper, Broader, or More Complex’ into all aspects of his work. I cannot imagine anyone who is as dedicated to an Honors program as Bruce.”
In addition to the pursuit of academic excellence, colleagues say Thompson has infused a spirit of personal growth, leadership, and development into the program. “Mentorship programs are difficult to establish under ideal
circumstances, let alone at a two-year college with high student turnover, but Bruce has managed to make it a success,” Stipelman shared. “This is no doubt in part to the palpable sense of student community he has managed
to foster. This supportive community has helped to motivate students stay at FCC to complete their honors work.”
Colleagues share the program thrives at FCC because of how effective Thompson is in sharing that passion with others, how well he mentors, nurtures, and develops honors students and the faculty who work with them. FCC even
recently recognized his commitment by awarding him the 2020 Presidential Leadership Award. “The Honors Program is a point of considerable pride for FCC, and that program is synonymous with Bruce Thompson,” Stipelman
humbly states. “He does it because honors is his passion.”
When you step foot on any of the six campuses of Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla., the first thing you may notice is the humidity. The second will most likely be the welcoming culture HCC has fostered, exemplifying
the “community” in Hillsborough Community College.
“HCC Honors students make our college a kinder and more beautiful place, that treats people more justly,” Dean of Associates of Arts Degree Programs, Dustin Lemke, graciously shared, adding “this does not happen by accident.
Kathleen King works tirelessly to facilitate this change.
To many of her colleagues, King has made such a significant impact in honors—at the state, regional, and national levels. King has served on the National Collegiate Honors Council Board of Directors from both student and
professional perspectives—as a student member while completing her undergraduate work in honors at University of Maine at Augusta, and as director of the Honors Institute at Hillsborough Community College. King has
also served as co-chair of the NCHC Partners in the Parks Committee, as well as the NCHC Advocacy Committee.
Those who have worked closely with her say King is always inventive, creative, and passionate—continuously working to connect not just those who work as honors professionals, but also her honors students to the opportunities
and possibilities that await their discovery.
“She is a ‘MacGyver’ with honors budgets, and can create an international trip for less money than any other honors guru I know,” NCHC Board of Directors member, Dr. Linda Frost, says of King. “I love her as a dear, dear
friend, but I am in awe of her as someone who has literally taken the honors community by storm and made us all better for it.”
Faculty members from the Honors Institute at HCC say King truly immerses herself into the honors community. “Kathleen is always encouraging faculty and staff to get more involved in projects, and offers her support in doing
so, she advocates for the students and the program at HCC, she is well-respected, and she welcomes conversations about how we can better serve our students and their ever-changing needs,” HCC counselor and professor,
Angela Mick, recalls of King. “I truly admire Kathleen and the way her brain works. She is creative in her approaches, and is always thinking about ways in which she can make the program better.”
Perhaps what shines the most about King from the different nominations submitted in her name, is her commitment to growth and experiential learning, no matter what your background may be. “Students at HCC are typical community
college students: they have money struggles, they are from under-served minority groups, and they are intelligent but often lacking academic support at home,” Lemke shared. “Kathleen bridges the divide between what
they have been given in life, and where their hopes and dreams are aiming.
“Kathleen enacts her beliefs about bringing people together and generating a bond between them. I am so glad and so grateful that I have had the chance to be a part of that excellent energy,” Frost lovingly said, adding
“Kathleen should receive this award for her skills as a [Partners in the Parks] van-driver on the treacherously thin highways of high mountaintops. She is a queen at the wheel, I tell you.”
The art of working a crowd and trying to build a network among nearly 2,000 attendees at the NCHC Annual Conference isn’t exactly a simple task to complete. However, very few people can win others over like Dr. Eddie Weller.
Colleagues say the only things that shine brighter than Weller’s boisterous laughter and infectious charm are his integrity and his commitment to honors education.
Dr. Weller holds a doctorate in history from Texas Christian University. He has been at San Jacinto College for nearly 30 years, and the honors program director there since 2013. Within the honors community, Weller has
served as president of the Great Plains Honors Council, has become a National Collegiate Honors Council Program Reviewer, and has attended the NCHC Annual Conference since 1996. Outside of the classroom, Weller has
served on the board of directors for the Houston History Alliance, East Texas Historical Association, Southwestern Historical Association, Texas State Historical Association, and the Southwestern Social Sciences Association.
San Jacinto College Deputy Chancellor and President Dr. Laurel Williamson says Weller’s energy, intelligence, creativity, and staunch belief in honors are why he was chosen for the job at San Jacinto College. “He took over
a faltering honors program at San Jacinto College and made it the thriving, student-centered department it is today,” Williamson said. “In four years since he became director, enrollment in honors has increased over
300%, and the activities and events associated with honors have tripled. Faculty participation has increased, and the breadth of course offerings as well."
San Jacinto College Provost Dr. Brenda Jolivette Jones says Weller is a self-starter, and consistently seeks opportunities to expand his knowledge and experience base. “He relates well to our students,” Jones said. “I’ve
had to the pleasure of witnessing firsthand how very well-respected he is in the honors community among educational institutions throughout the nation.”
Williamson added that Weller shares the same passion for honors as the person whom this award is named after: Dr. Ron Brandolini. Williamson—who worked alongside Brandolini at Valencia College—says Weller took the idea
of an honors program, and made it a reality. “Dr. Weller has led our honors program to a level of excellence that deserves to be recognized,” Williamson said.
“Dr. Weller is committed to the success of students and to the success of his colleagues. He has contributed to program development, faculty and staff professional development activities, and the creation of innovative
curriculum and instructional delivery strategies,” Williamson added. “His resume bears testimony to his professional contributions to the field of history and to educational leadership.”
Each year at the NCHC Annual Conference, there are nearly 2,000 attendees—ranging from the student to faculty levels. And according to many of her colleagues, it’s no exaggeration to say Dr. Lucy Laufe may speak with each
and every one of those attendees over the course of that week.
NCHC Board of Directors member, Christina McIntyre, recalls Dr. Laufe as the type of person who will strike up a conversation with anyone. “Lucy is always talking about her students—she is their champion—their strongest
advocate,” McIntyre said, recalling her relationship with Laufe. “That also comes with high standards and expectations,” McIntyre added, “Her students achieve one of the highest records of Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships
of any community college in the nation."
With 2017 marking 20 years teaching within the honors program at Montgomery College, Dr. Laufe currently serves as the college-wide honors coordinator across three campuses—and hosts more than 25 workshops per semester
on topics varying from “Teaching in Honors,” to “Writing Effective Letters of Recommendation,” and “Understanding Transfer and Scholarship.”
While recalling his first encounter with Dr. Laufe, Ryan Diehl says she is always looking towards the greater good of how she can help as many deserving students as possible. “Here she was, telling a packed room of other
honors program directors and honors college deans tips that would help make their students competitive against her own,” the Hutchinson Community College honors program coordinator said, “A lesser person would have
kept all of this information to him/herself, but that is not Lucy. I left that session that day greatly admiring both her success and her as an honors director.”
When asked by her home-campus colleagues about her contributions to honors, many say Dr. Laufe has not limited her outstanding contributions to Montgomery College. English professor, Joan Naake, says “She has acted at the
state, regional, and national level to enhance programs for honors students, to increase the number of honors students, and to heighten awareness of the significance of honors programs and honors students at two-year
colleges.”
2015 NCHC Ron Brandolini Award recipient, Elaine Torda, says the most important aspect to note of Dr. Laufe’s honors resume is her commitment to honors education, from working with honors organizations at the local, state,
regional and national levels, while remaining focused on the most important aspect of honors: students. “Her students regularly transfer to excellent four-year schools and often receive major scholarships,” said the
SUNY Orange Honors Program coordinator of her colleague. “She continues to teach and mold honors students, inspiring and assisting them to make the most of their opportunities.”
Montgomery College colleague and Paul Peck Humanities Institute director, Sara Bachman Ducey, says Dr. Laufe is remarkably generous with her time—always focused on student opportunity and success. “She is a great teacher,
mentor, leader and collaborator,” Ducey added. “She epitomizes the word ‘excellence.’”
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