Adult education alumnus receives national award

November 12, 2018

Ken Harrison

Alumnus Kenya “Ken” Harrison (Armstrong State University, 2010) was recently awarded the Malcolm Knowles Award for Outstanding Adult Education Program Leadershiphttps://www.aaace.org/page/MalcolmKnowles sponsored by the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE).

The award recognizes teams or individuals for outstanding leadership to programs that demonstrate particular effectiveness, relevancy, creativity, immediacy, institutional cooperation or collaboration and legislative impact.

Harrison serves as the academic program manager for the Georgia Institute of Technology’s (Georgia Tech) Department of Professional Education on the Savannah Campus. He manages the Veterans Education Training and Transition (VET²) Program which offers a one-of-a-kind training and employment initiative for transitioning service members, military spouses and veterans. Working with regional workforce boards around the state, the VET² program supports professional education at no cost to qualified students.  

Harrison earned a master’s in adult education and community leadership from Armstrong State University in 2010, and says that his experiences have been vital to his success in running an adult education program at Georgia Tech.

“The education I received at Armstrong had a tremendous impact on my personal and professional development,” Harrison said. “I had the opportunity to not only learn in the classroom, but we also had an impact in the community through various class projects. The adult education and community leadership program really opened my eyes to the type of meaningful influence I could have in the community.”

Harrison is also a United States Marine Corps reservist with 27 years of service. He was deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Kabul, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, worked at the Pentagon and Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Virginia. He is currently a senior logistics inspector for Headquarters Marine Corps Forces Reserve in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The VET2 program combines two important elements of Harrison’s life–his call to help his fellow servicemen and his desire to learn.

“It’s quite simple, I just enjoy learning,” Harrison said. “And I believe in servant leadership. This is a leadership style which is more concerned about the growth of others, their well-being, and of the communities to which they belong.”