District Honors Linda Rosenthal for 29 Years of Governing Board Service
PHOTOS
Linda Rosenthal and Family Linda Rosenthal and husband, Dr. Martin G. Rosenthal
Linda B. Rosenthal, a member of the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board for 28 years, was honored with a reception and good-natured roast aty Rio Salado College Conference Center Nov. 18, 2008.
The meeting was described as a “Strategic Conversation,” which is a type of Governing Board meeting that Mrs. Rosenthal herself invented as a way to stimulate ideas and input from a variety of sources. In this case, there was but one idea: The long-time board member will be sorely missed.
First elected to a five-year term on the Governing Board in 1979, Mrs. Rosenthal was elected to four more six-year terms. She will retire from the Board in December. During her 29 years on the Board, Mrs. Rosenthal has served as president six times and as secretary five times. She also has served on the State Board of Directors for Community Colleges, the Arizona Association of District Governing Boards, the Arizona Community College Association and the Association of Community College Trustees.
During the reception, a video honoring Mrs. Rosenthal was shown. Dr. Linda Thor, President of Rio Salado College; and Dr. Donald R. Campbell, current board president, were among those speaking on the video, as was Chancellor Rufus Glasper, who praised Mrs. Rosenthal as “a voice for our colleges for 29 years.”
She also was a voice for community colleges at the national level. At various times her leadership has been recognized by a variety of organizations, including the Association of Community College Trustees, which presented her with its Lifetime Membership Award (1992) and its Pacific Region Trustee of the Year (2002); the American Association of Women in Community Colleges, which honored her as Woman of the Year Award (2008); the Jewish Women International, which presented her with its 2001 Humanitarian Award; and Soroptimist International, which gave her its Women Helping Women Award (2001).
On the state level, she has served as a member of the Arizona Joint Legislative Interim Study Committee(1992); the Ad Hoc Committee on Community College Finance (1992); the Board of Regents Commission on Higher Education Enrollment Growth (1993); the Association of Governing Boards Board Chair Advisory Council (1994-97); the Higher Education Study Committee, Baccalaureate (1997-98) and the Learning in Retirement Associations of Arizona, Treasurer (2003). Even longer is a list of the community organizations in which she has participated. A complete list may be found at http://www.maricopa.edu/gvbd/rosenthal.php.
Mrs. Rosenthal attended the event with her husband, Dr. Martin G. Rosenthal, and some members of her family.