Kellogg Community College is pleased to announce KCC Athletic Director Tom Shaw is the recipient of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s annual George E. Killian Award of Excellence.
Shaw is one of just two 2020-21 recipients of the award and is the only recipient from a Michigan school in the award’s 15-year history.
Dr. Kay Keck, vice president for Student and Community Services at KCC, said the College continues to be proud to have Shaw at the helm of a continually impressive and evolving athletics program, and the award is a well-deserved honor.
“It is for Tom’s selfless dedication to the NJCAA and student athletes at KCC and across the nation that he was chosen for this award,” Keck said.
The George E. Killian Award of Excellence has been awarded annually since 2006. With recipients selected each year by a subcommittee of national NJCAA office members. To qualify for consideration, recipients must be active region directors, assistant region directors, coaches’ association presidents, presidential representatives or officers with a minimum of two years of national service to the NJCAA. Recipients must also demonstrate a commitment to voluntarism, achievement, service, leadership and excellence, as demonstrated by the award’s namesake.
Rod Lovett, director of Championships and Sports at the NJCAA and co-chair of the award selection committee, said the organization is excited to honor Shaw “for his outstanding work at both the NJCAA regional and national levels.”
“From his work as the Region XII men’s director to his commitment as the chair of the cross-country and half marathon committees, as well as stepping up to host the National Bowling Championship, Tom’s dedication exemplifies what this award is all about,” Lovett said. “During the difficult times of the last 15 months, he has time and time again worked to help the student athletes have a positive experience. Tom joins a long list of very deserving honorees.”
Shaw was also awarded Michigan Community College Athletic Association Athletic Director of the Year honors last summer and is the first three-time recipient of that award. He oversees athletic and Miller Physical Education Building programming at KCC, with direct oversight of more than 20 head and assistant coaches; he managed more than 110 student athletes during the 2020-21 academic year alone.
Shaw began his coaching and athletic administration career at Olivet College, where he held several athletic positions from 1987 until 1998, when he first became athletic director at KCC. He returned to Olivet in 2001, where he was vice president for enrollment management for five years and athletic director for two years, before returning to KCC in 2008. He was recognized by the KCC Board of Trustees during the group’s monthly meeting June 16 and will be honored by the NJCAA during a virtual convention June 21.
For more information about the NJCAA, visit njcaa.org. For more information about athletics at KCC, visit kellogg.edu/athletics.
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