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Ivy Tech Community College announced Monday that former President Gerald Lamkin has died. Lamkin spent 40 years with the college, serving as president from 1983-2007. He was 86.
Lamkin joined Ivy Tech as a part-time instructor in 1967, just four years after the college was established as the Indiana Vocational Technical College. He moved to a full-time role as an instructor of accounting and management, before transitioning to administration.
Prior to assuming the presidency, Lamkin served as business manager and director of education for the college’s then-Indianapolis region, dean for the then-Muncie and Richmond regions, and statewide vice president of operations.
Ivy Tech said during Lamkin’s tenure as president, the college’s enrollment grew from 45,000 to more than 120,000 students in 13 individual regions with no transfer degrees to one comprehensive statewide community college with 23 locations.
Current Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann called Lamkin the father of Indiana’s community college system, saying no single leader has had more impact on Ivy Tech.
“His visionary leadership transitioned the college from a vocational school and positioned it to become what it is today: Indiana’s workforce development engine,” Ellspermann said in written remarks. “His commitment to student success and serving community needs led to the college’s expansion in locations, programs, degree offerings, and transfer opportunities. Indiana’s higher education and workforce development landscape is forever changed because of him.”
Lamkin was born in Rising Sun, Indiana, in 1936 and graduated from Rising Sun High School. After graduating, he joined the U.S. Air Force. He later attended Indiana State University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business education. He also worked for St. Louis Public Schools, the Ford Foundation Project, Ford Motor Co. and Indianapolis Arsenal Technical High School.
Lamkin was a five-time recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash award, which is granted by the governor for distinguished service.
Ivy Tech said funeral and visitation arrangements are pending, but the Lamkin family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the Gerald and Louise Lamkin Scholarship with the Ivy Tech Foundation in lieu of flowers.
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