The Oregon Community College Association has named Rita Cavin, president of Linn-Benton Community College, as the Howard Cherry Outstanding Community College Administrator of the Year.

The Howard Cherry Awards are given in the name of the late Dr. Howard Cherry, a lifelong advocate for education. Awards are given to those who, by their contribution to the community college cause in Oregon, have brought recognition to community colleges statewide.

Cavin has served as LBCC’s president since September 2003. Throughout her tenure at the college, she has been instrumental in working with the college’s district legislators and has spent many hours testifying on behalf of community colleges during legislative sessions. Cavin is retiring from LBCC in January.

Cavin has served on the Linn County United Way Board, the OSU College of Education Advisory Board and the Albany-Millersburg Economic Development Corporation. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges, the Executive Board of the Oregon Community College Association, the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center Board, the Leadership Corvallis Board, and the Linn County Juvenile Drug Court Advisory Committee. She is a member of Albany Rotary and a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow.

She holds a Ph.D. in higher education from Claremont Graduate School, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Redlands, a Master of Arts in library science from Immaculate Heart College, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Redlands.

Democrat-Herald