Content area
Full Text
JERRY SUE THORNTON
President, Cuyahoga Community College
Jerry Sue Thornton keeps a dream catcher in her office to signify her feelings about community colleges.
"I think community colleges are dream catchers," said Dr. Thornton, president of Cuyahoga Community College. "I think a lot of people have dreams and things they would like to do but, without a college education, they can't do them."
Dr. Thornton found her own dream in a community college in 1971. She had earned her master's degree from Murray State University in Kentucky the year before and was teaching in a high school when, she said, "this new thing called community college was popping up in states around the country" to further educate Vietnam War veterans.
Acting on a friend's encouragement, Dr. Thornton applied for a position teaching English at Triton College in River Grove, Ill., and got the job. That move set the course for the rest of her career.
She moved up the ladder at Triton, eventually becoming dean of arts and sciences before leaving in 1985 to become president of what is now called Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn. After a six-year stint there, Dr. Thornton was hired for the top job at Tri-C.
As one of five children growing up on a farm in Kentucky, Dr. Thornton was encouraged to pursue higher education by her parents, who didn't finish...