Snyder Scores Lifetime Achievement Award
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThis year's winner of the Orr-O'Bannon Lifetime Achievement Award is Ivy Tech Community College President Tom Snyder. He joins past recipients of the Indiana Economic Development Association honor that include two former governors and the retired director of the Indiana Business Research Center. December 5, 2014
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Ivy Tech Community College President Thomas J. Snyder was presented with the Orr-O'Bannon Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indiana Economic Development Association's conference held December 4 at The Alexander in Indianapolis.
The award, created in 2003, is awarded to individuals deemed by the IEDA to have created a material positive impact on Indiana's economic development as a major accomplishment during their professional careers.
Past recipients include Frank O'Bannon, John Mutz, Tom Surgener, Hiromi Hemuki, Senator David Ford, Morton Marcus and Mitch Daniels
Snyder has served as president of Ivy Tech Community College, the state's largest public post-secondary institution and the nation's largest singly-accredited statewide community college system, since 2007. He leads the strategic, academic and operational processes of Indiana's largest and fastest growing college, serving more than 200,000 students annually at 32 campuses and 100 learning centers that provide a full-spectrum of educational resources, transfer credits, associate degrees, workforce training and professional certification.
President Snyder successfully led the college through a 10-year accreditation process. He has been nationally recognized for efforts and achievements, including a feature in The Chronicle of Higher Education as one of seven community college Presidents making a difference and as the 2009 Freedom Award recipient by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Indiana Holiday Commission for providing major, positive, societal influence in the community.
Snyder has served on a panel hosted by the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he detailed the critical role of higher education.
President Barack Obama selected Snyder to serve on a Roundtable on Affordability and Productivity in Higher Education at the White House. Snyder also attended the first White House Summit on Community Colleges. Ivy Tech then hosted the largest U.S. Department of Education summit on community colleges as a follow up to the White House event.
Under Snyder's leadership, Ivy Tech became a founding member of a coalition of community college systems and districts, Rebuilding America's Middle Class. Ivy Tech has also doubled in enrollments and increased completion rates by record numbers since Snyder became president. He has recently written a book on higher education called The Community College Career Track – A Guide for High-Schoolers, Career-Changers, Parents and Advisors.
Snyder is a 1967 graduate of Kettering University with a degree in mechanical engineering and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University. He is the former chairperson and CEO/president of Flagship Systems Center and Delco Remy International, Inc.
Ivy Tech Community College is the state's largest public post-secondary institution and the nation's largest singly accredited statewide community college system serving nearly 200,000 students annually. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state's engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.
Source: Ivy Tech Community College