Gateway president to receive two major awards

NEW HAVEN — Gateway Community College President Dr. Dorsey L. Kendrick has been selected to receive two prestigious awards this fall, one from the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, the other from the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches, the college said in a statement.

Kendrick will be one of five women who receive the CWEALF Maria Stewart Award on Oct. 6 at the CWEALF’s “One Woman Makes a Difference” Dinner at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, the statement said.

The award is given to women who are courageous, inspiring and talented leaders, as well as role models for their efforts to advance the cause of equality in Connecticut, it said.

Kendrick also was selected as one of the “100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut” by the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches. The organization will honor award recipients Nov. 6 at its annual convention at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Ledyard, an event that also will celebrate the organization’s 100th birthday. The award honors individuals whose efforts transcend their profession or position and command national or statewide influence that affects African Americans.

Kendrick, a New Haven resident, has served as GCC president since 1999. Since then, enrollment rose from fewer than 3,000 students to more than 6,000. Reared in Jackson, Tenn., Kendrick was one of three students in 1967 to integrate Union University, where she later earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, the statement said. She also holds a master’s degree in business management from Cardinal Stritch University, a doctorate in philosophy in higher education administration from Walden University, and is a graduate of the Institute of Education Management at Harvard University. Kendrick was the first African-American woman to hold the position of associate dean and dean of the School of Business at Milwaukee Area Technical College. She went on to become the highest-ranking African-American woman in Wisconsin’s system of higher education as executive vice president of Milwaukee Area Technical College, the statement said.