Tallahassee Community College : TCC inducts 16 new members of Hall of Fame

October 31, 2017

Tallahassee, Fla. (October 31, 2017)-The Tallahassee Community College Alumni and Friends Hall of Fame now has 16 new members, including five former presidents of the College.

The honorees were recognized at a ceremony on October 30, and their names were added to the Wall of Honor on the exterior of the TCC Student Union.

James Kassaga Arinaitwe

James Kassaga Arinaitwe is co-founder and CEO of Teach For Uganda, a nonprofit organization that enlists Uganda's recent university graduates and young professionals to address education inequity in poor rural and urban schools across Uganda. Arinaitwe previously worked with The Carter Center in Atlanta. He has been a Global Health Corps Fellow, Acumen Global Fellow and Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow.

Eddie Barnes

Eddie Barnes retired from TCC after 24 seasons as a National Junior College Athletic Association head coach. His record at TCC was 274-144, and his overall NJCAA record was 469-254, which makes him one of the NJCAA's top 100 all-time winningest coaches. Equally impressive is the number of players who have moved on to the next level. To date, 60 of Barnes' TCC Eagles have continued their athletic and academic careers at four-year institutions. In 2015, Barnes was voted into the Florida College System Activities Association Men's Basketball Coaches' Hall of Fame.

Pamella J. Butler

Pamella J. Butler is the chair and founder of Aegis Business Technologies. She is a graduate of TCC who has served two terms as president of the TCC Foundation Board of Directors. Butler was the lead board volunteer for the Foundation's 2016 fundraising campaign, which raised a historic $14.4 million in 2016. She is a long-time member of the President's Circle and supporter of scholarships and programs at the TCC Gadsden Center. Aegis has also underwritten the renovation of the Aegis Business Technologies Classroom.

Jean English-Hurst

Jean English-Hurst was the founding theatre director and an English professor at TCC who helped design Fred W. Turner Auditorium. She served as Freshman English chair for nine years. She also created and chaired TCC's Signature Seat Program. In 2003, she and husband Ralph Hurst, a noted artist, established the Ralph and Jean Hurst Collection, which is housed in space next to Turner Auditorium in the TCC Fine and Performing Arts Center.

Marm M. Harris

Marm M. Harris took over in 1979 as TCC's second president. The TCC Foundation was established during his tenure, and Harris was instrumental in the creation of an artist series to provide additional cultural opportunities and experiences for students and for the community. The Lifetime Sports Complex, providing a facility for intercollegiate, intramural and fitness programs, was also built during the Harris presidency. He died in 2008.

James H. Hinson Jr.

James H. Hinson Jr. was named TCC's third president in 1983. During his tenure, enrollment more than doubled. He also expanded the TCC Foundation and re-established an athletic program. Facility additions included a major new classroom building, state-of-the-art science labs, a new administration building and a new library. Other buildings were renovated and or expanded and athletic facilities were developed. The size of the campus increased from 64 acres, the smallest in the state, to nearly 200. The TCC Gadsden Center in Quincy was also opened. Hinson retired in 1995.

Betty Jensen

Betty Jensen began her career at TCC in 1988. She established the International Student Organization and the International Student Services department, which she directed until her retirement in 2017. It was Jensen's passion for international education that led to the development of International Education Week at TCC. It was also through her efforts that TCC became only the second community college in Florida to receive the J-1 visa designation. Additionally, Jensen developed the first Florida International Leadership program.

W. Ken Katsaris

W. Ken Katsaris was in his early 20s when TCC's founding president, Fred Turner, tapped him to establish and chair a criminal justice education program. While in that role, Katsaris set up the region's first teaching crime lab, which was based at TCC and used by police agencies for preliminary analysis. He even served as campus security director. Katsaris left the program in 1977 after being elected sheriff of Leon County. He is now a police litigation consultant and leads seminars for law enforcement professionals. Katsaris is also still active at TCC, teaching basic recruits at the Florida Public Safety Institute.

William D. Law Jr.

William D. Law Jr. was named the College's fifth president in May 2002, serving until 2010. During Law's tenure, TCC opened the Learning Commons, created the Advanced Manufacturing and Training Center, opened the Economic and Workforce Development Center, and broke ground on the Ghazvini Center for Healthcare Education. Law also led an aggressive building program and land acquisition to transform the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy into one of the nation's premiere law enforcement training centers, the Florida Public Safety Institute. Under Law's leadership, the TCC Foundation launched a $10 million capital campaign.

Kimberly A. Moore

Kimberly A. Moore serves as vice president for workforce innovation at TCC. Before joining TCC, Moore served as CEO of Workforce Plus-the youngest person, the first African-American, and the first woman to hold that position. Moore, who is a TCC alumna, is a member of Leadership Tallahassee and Leadership Florida, a trustee for Florida A & M University, and a board director for Big Bend Hospice. She has been recognized both locally and statewide for her service and commitment to excellence.

Deborah Robinson

Deborah Robinson, who was the director of library services at TCC for more than six years, was known for her passion for helping students. She was instrumental in developing TCC's EaglePrint program, which allows students to print, scan and make copies in various locations around campus. Robinson was also the driving force in creating the Collaboration Room in the library for faculty, staff and students to collaborate and innovate on various projects. She served as director of the executive board of the Florida Library Association and president of the Florida Association of College and Research Libraries. Deborah Robinson died in 2017.

Chris Summers

Chris Summers, who is a TCC alumnus, became TCC's chief of police in January 2014. Summers worked to increase the level of interaction between his department and the TCC community as a whole and represented TCC with organizations such as the Florida Missing and Exploited Persons Information Clearinghouse and the Smart Justice Alliance. In January 2017, he left TCC to become chief of the Department of Law Enforcement with the Leon County Sheriff's Office. Summers still serves as an adjunct instructor at TCC's Florida Public Safety Institute.

Beth Willis Tedio

Beth Willis Tedio, who is a TCC alumna, has served as a TCC Foundation board member for four years and is currently chair of the Alumni and Friends Advisory Council. She and her family have also established the Uptown Café scholarship at TCC. Tedio is a board member for Locally Owned Tallahassee, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Chamber Leads Group 1 and the Capital Women's Network, where she served for three years as president. She is also co-owner of Uptown Café, where she developed the Uptown Cares program, which has generated more than $50,000 in donations for local nonprofits.

Marjorie R. Turnbull

Marjorie R. Turnbull was executive director of the TCC Foundation from 1995 until 2006, spearheading growth in the Foundation's assets from $250,000 to more than $10 million. This included more than 80 endowed scholarships and more than 500 scholarships for Take Stock in Children recipients. Upon her retirement, the Foundation Board of Directors created the Marjorie Turnbull Faculty Fellowship program. Turnbull is a member of the President's Circle and the Signature Seat Program and has established a fund to assist students in TCC's Model United Nations program. She was also a founding board member of TCC's Institute for Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence.

Fred W. Turner

Fred W. Turner was the College's first president. Turner was responsible for planning and building the new college from the ground up-writing course descriptions, hiring faculty and staff, and providing direction for the architect, among other tasks. Students were his highest priority, and Turner was often directly involved in the advising and registration process and frequently sought out student views on matters concerning the College. Turner emphasized maintaining high academic standards, hiring top-quality faculty and support personnel, keeping student costs low, and developing programs that meet community needs. He served until 1979, then returned as interim president in 1982-83. Turner retired in 1983 and passed away in 1987.

T. K. Wetherell

T. K. Wetherell, the College's fourth president, took office in June 1995. He is credited with overseeing TCC's evolution into one of the state's premier community colleges. Wetherell more than doubled the square footage of the campus and oversaw the further development of the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy. Under his direction, TCC implemented 50 major workforce development programs, a GED/Adult Education program, an online Associate in Arts degree and significant technology innovations. Wetherell also worked with university partners to offer four-year degree programs on TCC's campus and made it a priority to have TCC actively involved in the community. He left TCC in 2001 to become president of Florida State University.