Cochise College President Karen A. Nicodemus has been nominated for the National Governors’ Association (NGA) Distinguished Service to State Government Award. The national awards program recognizes the contributions of private citizens and civil servants in each state.

Nicodemus was nominated by Gov. Janet Napolitano with supporting letters from Michael Cohen, president of Achieve, Inc.; and Vicki Balentine, president of the State Board of Education and superintendent of Amphitheater Public Schools. They cited Nicodemus’s leadership of the State Board of Education, which she presided over last year; her active involvement with the Governor’s P-20 Council; and her passion for student success and moving education reform forward.

Under Nicodemus’s leadership, Arizona’s board of education gained support among the education, business and higher education communities and increased high school graduation requirements. Over the course of 2007 and in less than one year’s time, she led the state board to adopt policy that increased the required number of mathematics and science credits, but also the level of mathematics rigor.

 “Raising standards for all Arizona students is one of my proudest accomplishments as governor,” Napolitano said, “and Dr. Nicodemus made it happen.”

 In her capacity as a member of the state board, Dr. Nicodemus continues to be involved in discussions related to the alignment of high school graduation requirements to college and career readiness in the 21st century. As a member of the P-20 Council, she chairs the Education Alignment subcommittee and is a member of the council’s steering committee. She was recently named as a member of Arizona’s team participating in the Making Opportunity Affordable Grant Program Academy; to the executive steering committee for the recently awarded southeastern Arizona regional WIRED Innovation/Frontier partnership grant; the Arizona Global Network Board, an economic development initiative under the Arizona Department of Commerce; and as a board member of the Arizona Town Hall. She previously served on the boards of the Cochise Community Foundation and the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, as well as with the Arizona-Mexico Commission. Other past service includes membership on the Cochise County Workforce Investment Board and chair of the Arizona Community College Association and the Arizona Community College Presidents’ Council. In prior years, she has been nominated by the Cochise College Governing Board for recognition as the Pacific Regional ACCT Chief Executive Officer.

“I am extremely honored to have been nominated by the governor,” Nicodemus said. “The opportunity to participate in these discussions and reform efforts has been one of the highlights of my professional career. I truly appreciate the college’s Governing Board and my colleagues’ support of my involvement at the state level.”

 Annually, NGA presents three awards to state officials, three to private citizens and two for distinguished service to the arts. Established in 1976, the awards program is administered by a selection committee comprised of three permanent representatives from the academic community, as well as designees chosen by the NGA chair and vice chair. The 2007 award recipients were announced last July.