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2010 Leader of the Year: Dr. Preston Pulliams

Portland Community College President Preston Pulliams was presented the CASE District VIII’s 2010 Leadership Award at the annual district conference in Portland. The award was presented at the conference’s awards Gala by the chair of the CASE International Board of Trustee, Cassie McVeety.

“There could be no more deserving recipient of a regional CASE leadership award than he,” said Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski. “Dr. Pulliams has a vision of access to higher education for anyone who wants in. His passion for this philosophy is one of the reasons I named him to the Oregon Board of Higher Education, where he has proven his leadership time and time again.”

While accepting his award, Dr. Pulliams shared that as a young man, he expected to join his father as a foundry worker. But instead, he became the first in his family to attend college thanks to a scholarship from his local Rotary Club. That first gift of opportunity to go to his local community college inspired Pulliams to make access to higher education the cornerstone of his vision at PCC.

Since joining PCC in 2004, among Dr. Pulliams many notable accomplishments was the passing of a $374 million capital bond measure – the largest educational bond measure in the history of Oregon — to expand their facilities to serve 20,000 additional full-time students.

Over the past five years under his leadership, their Foundation’s annual contributions quadrupled and their endowment more than doubled, despite the recent market downturn. And most importantly, annual scholarship awards more than tripled. All of these efforts focused on the President’s vision that no student be turned away for lack of funds or space.

Dr. Pulliams is an incredible leader,” shared Kristin Watkins, PCC’s Associate Vice President for College Advancement. “His compelling vision and ability to inspire others to help him achieve that vision is what I think makes him most deserving of the CASE Leadership Award.”

Past Leadership Award Winners

• 2009 Harold "Hal" Dengerink, Chancellor, Washington State University Vancouver
• 2008 Irene Lewis, President and CEO, SAIT Polytechnic
• 2007 Dene K. Thomas, President, Lewis-Clark State College
• 2006 Ronald P. Sexton, Chancellor, Montana State University- Billings
• 2005 Sam Shaw, President, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
• 2004 Peter O. Kohler, MD, President, Oregon Health & Science University
• 2003 Susan Resneck Pierce, President, University of Puget Sound
• 2002 Robert Hoover, President, University of Idaho
• 2001 Bill Robinson, President, Whitworth College
• 2000 Dave Frohnmayer, President, University of Oregon
• 1999 George M. Denison , President, University of Montana–Missoula
• 1998 B. Jean Floten, President, Bellevue Community College
• 1997 Samuel H. Smith, President, Washington State University
• 1996 Charles Mitchell, President, Seattle Central Community College
• 1995 Father William Sullivan, President, Seattle University
• 1994 John Byrne, President, Oregon State University
• 1993 Sister Kathleen Ross, President, Heritage College

What is the Leadership Award?

The CASE District VIII Leadership Award recognizes a CASE VIII member institution president or head, chancellor, educational system head, or CEO for outstanding efforts to promote the understanding and support of education. Nominees must demonstrate abilities to accomplish the following:

• create a vision for an institution and inspire others to accept that vision
• establish a positive image for the institution, successfully lead an institution through turbulent times,
• increase an institution's stature in its community and its educational service to the community,
• and be innovative and encourage an institution's personnel to be innovative and take risks.

Information about nominations for the 2011 award will be available in September 2011.

Contact

For more information, please contact:
Cheryl Nations
Phone: 206-221-7041
Email: cnations@uw.edu

Copyright © 2010, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, District VIII. All rights reserved.