Psychology instructor wins regional honor
Flathead Valley Community College psychology instructor Ivan Lorentzen has been named the 2010 Association of Community College Trustees Faculty Member of the Year for the association’s Western Region.
He received the award recently at the association’s Leadership Congress in Toronto.
Lorentzen was one of five community college faculty members recognized with regional awards among more than 1,200 community college faculty members in the United States and Canada.
The Western Region is made up of 93 community college association members in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territory and Saskatchewan.
In a nomination letter, John Engebretson, chairman of the college board of trustees, lauded Lorentzen as the senior faculty member and as an instructor deeply committed to the community.
“Ivan’s involvement in the community, as a board of trustee member of both elementary and high school districts, among many other civic roles, has been demonstrated time and time again,” Engebretson. ”He proves every day that his service to the community doesn’t end when he leaves the classroom.”
Lorentzen has served on numerous committees to strengthen academic standards and opportunities for students. He has headed efforts that have produced innovative programs.
A faculty member since 1971, he serves as director of the college’s new Scholars Program, the first of its kind on a Montana two-year postsecondary education campus and one of only four at all of Montana’s 21 public institutions of higher education.
Lorentzen also has directed the college’s annual Honors Symposium, a series of lectures presented on topical themes by national academic experts, and the inaugural Scholars Conference on Student Research.
He has served as division chairman, Faculty Senate chairman and head of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee.
On the national level, he has served on numerous panels, has presented papers at national conferences and has been chosen to review psychology textbooks.
He has been extensively involved with the National Collegiate Honors Council and was invited to present at its annual conference this fall.
Lorentzen has been active in the Montana Career Clusters initiative and has presented at two National Career Clusters Conferences.
He has served as chairman and member of the Leadership Flathead Steering Committee, chairman and member of the Cayuse Prairie School Board of Trustees and currently serves on the Kalispell Public Schools Board of Trustees and is chairman of the Curriculum Committee.
Last year, Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas received the ACCT Chief Executive Officer Award for the association’s Mountain Region, now called Western Region.