AUGUSTA – Jon Schlenker, Ph.D., University of Maine at Augusta professor of sociology and anthropology, has been elected president of the National Collegiate Honors Council The organization provides support to honors programs at almost 800 colleges and universities throughout the United States, Netherlands and the Virgin Islands.

“It is a great reflection on the University of Maine at Augusta and its own honors program that this prestigious national organization chose to elect someone from here as their president,” Schlenker said.

Schlenker serves as director of UMA’s honors program, an active campus organization that focuses on scholarship, leadership and community service. Each year there are about 80 UMA honors students who take special courses, attend honors programs and conferences, and participate in a wide array of volunteer activities supporting the central Maine community.

“Since the mid 1980s UMA’s honors program has been a dynamic presence on and off our campus,” Schlenker said. “Other honors programs from colleges across the region and nation have sought us out for advice, and our students have presented at several NCHC conferences.”

“In many ways the growth of our honors program has mirrored the growth of UMA itself,” added Schlenker, who has taught at UMA for 32 years. “They have both matured into institutions that place a very high premium on serving our students as well as the communities of which we are a part.”

As council president, Schlenker recently chaired the national conference in St. Louis, attended by more than 1,500 honors students, faculty and administrators. For the coming year he will represent the organization as its official spokesman, preside as chairman of meetings, appoint committee members and chairs, assist with the planning of the 2006 conference in Philadelphia and oversee the organization’s continued expansion and growth.

Schlenker lives in Augusta with his wife, Barbara Tognoli. He has three grown children.

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