Faculty member of 19 years honored by Missouri Community College Association

Ozarks Technical Community College Transportation Department Chair and Collision Repair Technology Instructor Kerry Wrinkle was honored recently with a 2010 Senior Faculty Service Award from the Missouri Community College Association.  Wrinkle, whose award was presented at the Association’s annual conference in St. Louis, Missouri, joined OTC just before its very first fall semester, in August of 1991.

Wrinkle has served his department and the College in a more prominent way in recent months, as community and government attention has come to OTC.  He was involved in some national attention received by the College in May of 2010, when five Iraqi educators came to Missouri to tour colleges and attend an international educator conference.  The visit was designed to provide examples of infrastructure and programs for the Iraqis to use when rebuilding the educational system in their own country.  Wrinkle provided a tour of the transportation areas and answered some of the visitors’ questions, and subsequently was pictured in USA Today with an article about the educators’ visit.

Additionally, in October of 2009, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon visited Ozarks Technical Community College and held a roundtable conversation to discuss ways to help higher education better connect with the state’s workforce demands.  Wrinkle was a part of the roundtable discussion, which served as the first stop on Nixon’s listening tour.

Throughout his time at OTC, Wrinkle has continued to demonstrate his commitment to the quality training and career preparation of his students.  Prior to his time at OTC, he had previously served as an Auto Body Instructor in the Springfield R-12 School District.

The Missouri Community College Association is a professional education association designed to promote the growth and development of Missouri’s community colleges and community college employees.  MCCA is the only professional organization that exclusively serves the public community college system.