Achiever Stories

Fresno City College President and TRIO Achiever 

Ned Doffoney, a college president, son of a farm laborer, and alumnus of the University of Southwestern Louisiana’s Student Support Services program, is one of six winners of the prestigious national 2005 TRIO Achievers Award honoring individuals of distinction who, as students, made the most of their TRIO participation.

Doffoney has been the President of Fresno City College since 2002. He credits TRIO’s Student Support Services program—particularly the program’s directors—with teaching him what it meant to persevere, to be diligent, and to think critically.

Equally important, according to Doffoney, was the intellectual validation he received as a tutor in the Student Support Services program. “My work as a tutor gave me a sense of confidence and self-worth that transferred into my classroom work,” Doffoney said.

Doffoney graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana with a B.A. in economics and mathematics in 1972; and an M.S. in vocational rehabilitation counseling in 1975. He received his Ed.D. in institutional management from Pepperdine University in 1991. “Because of the encouragement and guidance from the Student Support Services program, the son of a farm laborer—whose predicted future was his father’s past—is now the president of one of America’s finest community colleges,” Doffoney said.

Doffoney will join the five other awardees at a ceremony honoring their achievements at the 24th Annual Council for Opportunity in Education Conference in Washington, DC September 18-21.

Student Support Services, one of the federally-funded TRIO programs, helps low-income and first-generation students across the country stay in college until they earn their baccalaureate degree by providing counseling, tutoring, and remedial instruction. 

“Dr. Doffoney embodies the ideal of what you can achieve through education. His life and leadership have touched thousands. He supports and has dedicated his life to create and foster powerful learning environments,” said Ginna Bearden, Director of TRIO Programs as Fresno City College. “He consistently demonstrates his commitment to the significant role of education in promoting human potential.”

~~~

Read about other achievers Heather Morrison, Blanca Escobar, Christopher Harrison, Wendy Sanchez, Hazel Amina, Sunshine Lawson, Jennifer Dyke, Laura Ochoa, and Michael Christiansen.

If you have a story about a participant or staff achiever, send it to Dave Ferguson. The person does not have to be nominated for the WESTOP Achievers Award. He or she is a person, in your eyes, whose story is inspirational. Afterall, if we don't tell the stories of our participants and staff, who will?

[TOP]