Wayne Community College recognizes 2018 distinguished chairs
By From staff reports
Published in News on August 29, 2018 5:50 AM
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From left, Wayne Community College President Thomas A. Walker Jr. congratulates Jennifer Johnson and Dr. Ernie White, the college's 15th set of distinguished chair recipients, along with Foundation of WCC Executive Director Adrienne Northington.
Two Wayne Community College faculty members were recently honored with the 2018 Distinguished Chair awards.
Applied Animal Science instructor Jennifer Johnson and Applied Technologies Division Dean Dr. Ernie White each received a monetary award to use for travel and a keepsake for their offices.
This is the 15th time for the recognition, presented to outstanding full-time curriculum faculty members who have distinguished themselves at the college and in the community. The awards are made possible by an annual gift to the Foundation of Wayne Community College by an anonymous donor.
In announcing the awards, Foundation executive director Adrienne Northington credited Johnson with being an outstanding faculty member, mentor, leader and servant of the community.
"She began her career at WCC in 2006 and is a role model for other instructors for her compassion for students and ability to help students achieve their goals," Northington said. "She is recognized by others at WCC as one of the subject matter experts in online education and frequently assists other faculty members in their efforts."
Johnson volunteers with such organizations as the Wayne County Livestock Development Association, Wayne County Chamber of Commerce's Junior Leadership Program, North Carolina Cattlemen's Association and Wayne County Farmers Association. She also provided leadership for the Wayne County Agricultural Expo, the inaugural event at the Maxwell Regional Agricultural and Convention Center.
Northington commended White for being an outstanding professional, mentor, instructor and leader.
White moved into higher education after a career in industry. He transitioned his management skills into leadership at the college and has been instrumental in creating state-of-practice learning environments in several programs throughout the campus.
"He is well-respected locally, nationally, and internationally for his expertise in many technical fields and has developed several business and industry partnerships that enable our students to obtain the best technical education possible," Northington said. "He constantly strives to push the Applied Technology Division and WCC forward to achieve its potential."