HARRY S. TRUMAN AWARD
Barack H. Obama
44th President of the United States
Like his predecessor President Harry
S. Truman, who first described a vision
for a national network of community
colleges, President Barack Obama has
given these institutions unprecedented
visibility and support. From the start of
his administration, he has emphasized
the central role the colleges play in
ensuring access and opportunity and
in ensuring a future workforce that is
globally competitive. He has appointed
community college experts to the highest levels of his administration, and, in
an effort to provide ongoing advocacy
for community colleges at home and
abroad, he designated Dr. Jill Biden, a
long-time community college faculty
member, as a community college “
ambassador” to the world.
President Obama has championed in-
vestment in postsecondary education
and the creation of career pathways
via multiple policy innovations. The
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act comprised the State Fiscal Stabiliza-
tion Fund, aimed at helping governors
advance educational reform and begin
to close persistent skills gaps. Through
the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsi-
bility Act (SAFRA), the Pell Grant pro-
gram, which provides critical financial
aid to more than 2 million low-income
students, would receive a $36 billion
boost, significantly increasing the maxi-
mum award beyond the $5,550 that is
scheduled in award year 2010–2011.
The American Graduation Initiative
articulated the President’s vision for
advancing community colleges over
the next decade, proposing an un-
precedented $12 billion federal in-
vestment to help community colleges
develop innovative new programs,
increase training capacity and rebuild
infrastructure. Speaking on July 14,
2009, at Macomb Community College
in Michigan, the President challenged
community colleges to increase by 5
million students the number of gradu-
ates by 2020, asserting that “we have
to make sure we are educating people
for the new jobs of the 21st century.”
Both in his personal life and his ap-
proach to governance, President
Obama has demonstrated many of the
same values characteristic of commu-
nity colleges — a belief in hard work
and education as the means of getting
ahead, a commitment to equal oppor-
tunity for all, and the conviction that
life should include service to others.
With a father from Kenya and a mother
from Kansas, President Obama was
born in Hawaii. He was raised with help
from his grandparents. After college,
President Obama moved to Chicago,
where he worked to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of
local steel plants.
He went on to attend law school, where
he became the first African-American
president of the Harvard Law Review.
Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration
drive, teach constitutional law at the
University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.
President Obama’s years of public service are based around his unwavering
belief in the ability to unite people
around a politics of purpose.
For his advocacy and commitment, his
unprecedented support of community
colleges and their mission, President
Barack Obama has been selected to receive the highest and most prestigious
honor given by the American Association of Community Colleges – the Harry
S. Truman Award.
Photo courtesy Northern Virginia Community College
