Dr. Linda Young, President of Wallace Community College Dothan, gave remarks in the Alabama State Capitol Auditorium during the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) 60th anniversary kickoff celebration, called the ACCS Diamond Jubilee Kickoff, on Monday, April 17.
Dr. Young is the Alabama Community College System’s first woman technical college president and current longest-serving president, with more than 35 years of leadership at Wallace Community College (Dothan and Sparks-Eufaula campus). She is a first-generation college student who used an academic scholarship at Enterprise State Community College (formerly Enterprise State Junior College) for her first two years of education.
In 2016, Dr. Young was the first educator selected as a Laureate for the Dothan Business Hall of Fame. She was one of 19 community college presidents in the nation to be presented the prestigious Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction in 2017 by Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for community colleges. Dr. Young was named a Paul Harris Fellow by both the Eufaula Rotary Club and the Dothan Rotary Club. She is a 1999 graduate of the Leadership Alabama program and currently serves on its Board of Directors and will assume the role of chair in 2024. In 2022, Dr. Young was named a “Woman of Impact” by Yellowhammer News. She sees community colleges as the “dream catchers” of society. “Our community colleges have been, and continue to be, a part of the vision, the destiny, and the future of so many people in our state. I am grateful to be a part of making that happen,” she said.
Some of Dr. Young’s major accomplishments during her professional career include developing special educational programs for adult women. The programs, featured in at least four national publications, have been designated as exemplary models by Strengthening Developing Institutions Program, the National Commission on Working Women, the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, Far West Laboratories, and the National Center for Research in Vocational Education.
The ACCS Diamond Jubilee is a celebration across two years that focuses on how Alabama’s community colleges started, where they are, and where they are going as they continue to serve Alabama’s communities. Landmark legislation signed into law on May 3, 1963, laid the groundwork for what would become the Alabama Community College System (ACCS). Legislators wanted a unified system of institutions to focus on accessible training in “arts and sciences and in useful skills and trades” for current and future labor needs. Sixty years have passed, but that important cause remains the purpose of the 24 community and technical colleges that make up the ACCS.
After the Diamond Jubilee kickoff, dozens of celebrations and community service projects across the state will highlight the positive impact made by Alabama’s community and technical colleges. More information is available at www.accs.edu/jubilee.
About Wallace Community College
Wallace Community College–Dothan is a member of the Alabama Community College System, which is the state’s single largest system of public higher education. With campuses in Dothan and Eufaula, Wallace offers academic, health sciences, and career technical programs; adult education, workforce development training and continuing education; and dual enrollment courses for area high school students.
About ACCS
With 24 community colleges in more than 130 locations, the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) is Alabama’s gateway to first-class, affordable education and technical training to compete in a constantly evolving workforce. More than 155,000 Alabamians benefit from the various certification, credential, dual enrollment and degree programs ACCS offers alongside leading industry partners. The System includes the Alabama Technology Network, which provides extensive training and service offerings directly to business and industry. ACCS is governed by the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees.