January 24, 2007
For more information, contact:
Charlotte Stratton, 617.357.9620, x125
BOSTON — Southern New Hampshire University’s 25-year-old School of Community Economic Development and two Granite State education luminaries, Ingrid Lemaire of Granite State Management and Resources, and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts founder Peter V. Sampo, have won the New England Board of Higher Education’s 2007 New England Higher Education Excellence Awards, the regional agency announced today.
Commenting on the honorees, NEBHE President and CEO Evan S. Dobelle said: “New Hampshire’s many distinctions as an education leader for the nation come down to passionate people and innovative institutions. That passion is embodied by Ingrid Lemaire, Peter Sampo and the thousands of graduates of the School of Community Economic Development.”
SNHU’s School of Community Economic Development will receive NEBHE’s 2007 Robert J. McKenna award, which is named for the former Rhode Island state senator, NEBHE chair and Newport mayor and presented each year to an outstanding New England academic program.
Since its founding in 1982, the school has trained more than 2,500 community development practitioners from more than 100 countries. The school’s graduates build affordable housing, run community development financial institutions, promote micro-enterprise programs, and develop commercial projects and small businesses in poor communities.
Lemaire and Sampo will both be honored with NEBHE’s New Hampshire State Merit Award, presented each year to outstanding individuals, institutions or programs.
Lemaire has served the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) Network Organizations for 24 years. As vice president for research and government relations at the network’s Granite State Management and Resources, she has been instrumental in the creation of the Center for College Planning and the formation of the NHHEAF Network Educational Foundation. In 1999, she organized the first higher education summit in New Hampshire, which ultimately led to the creation of the New Hampshire Forum on the Future.
Peter V. Sampo is founder and president emeritus of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack where he serves as Distinguished Professor of Political Science. He served as President of Magdalen College from 1974 to 1978; Dean of St. Francis College from 1970 to 1973; and founding Chair of the Politics Department at St. Anselm College. Founded in 1978, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts offers a unique curriculum grounded in the “great texts” of western civilization.
Each year, NEBHE presents four regional awards to individuals and organizations that have shown exceptional leadership on behalf of higher education and the advancement of educational opportunity. The organization also presents “merit awards” to honor the innovative work of institutions, organizations or individuals in each New England state.
The 2007 New England Higher Education Excellence Awards ceremony will take place on Friday, March 9, at Boston’s Fairmont Copley Plaza. Click here for more information about NEBHE’s New England Higher Education Excellence Awards.
[ssba]