Area Residents Honored at ACTC Graduation

At the 2011 Commencement Ceremony on May 14, Ashland Community and Technical College will recognize four Ashland residents for their distinguished accomplishments and service to the college

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Kristie M. Whitlatch will be honored as ACTCs 2011 Distinguished Alumnus in recognition of her professional and personal achievements. She is Senior Vice President of Service Line Development at Kings Daughters Medical Center (KDMC) in Ashland.

A Boyd County native and Boyd County High School graduate, Whitlatch earned an associate degree in nursing from Ashland Community College, a predecessor of ACTC, in 1985.

She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Bellarmine College and a Master of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Phoenix. She has also earned certifications from the National Association of Case Management and the National Association of Healthcare Quality Clinical Case Management.

Whitlatch began at KDMC as a neuro-pulmonary nurse manager and took on positions of increasing responsibility as Director of Quality Management, Director of the Heart and Vascular Center and Vice President of the Heart and Vascular Center before assuming her current position.

Active in professional organizations, she is a board member of the American Heart Association, Kentucky Heart Institute and Kentucky Heart Foundation. She is a member of the Bluegrass Healthcare Quality Association, American Society of Healthcare Executives and National Association of Healthcare Quality and is the Ashland area representative to the Kentucky Coalition for Heart Disease Prevention.

Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Michael and Dana Goodwin will receive the 2011 Distinguished Service Award for their support of the colleges child development center now under construction at the College Drive Campus. Their advocacy of the project led other members of the medical community to give their support.

Dr. Goodwin, an orthopedic surgeon, has been in private practice in Ashland since 1992. He is certified through the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and is an active staff member at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital and Kings Daughters Medical Center.

Originally from Louisiana, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Northwestern State University and his medical degree from Louisiana State University in New Orleans in 1980. He is a member of the American Medical Association, Kentucky Medical Association and the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons.

Dana Goodwin is a graduate of Russell High School and has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics with an emphasis in textiles, clothing amp; merchandising from the University of Kentucky. She is a past member of the Our Lady of Bellefonte Foundation and is currently very active with the First Baptist Church Ladies Enrichment Ministry..

Special Recognition Award

Bennie J. Shields will receive a Special Recognition Award for her service to the college and her support of education in the community. An Ashland resident for 38 years, she has been a teacher, tutor, high education advocate, scholarship donor and scholarship supporter.

She has Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas, and she worked in chemical research and development for ten years before coming to Ashland in 1973 when her husband Ted began working for Ashland Oil. He later became a chemistry professor at the college and taught for 20 years before his death in 2003.

In 1982, she received a Master of Arts Degree in Education from Morehead State University. She taught school for 17 years and retired as a chemistry teacher at Boyd County High School in 1998.

Since her retirement, she has been tutoring students in reading at Summit, Hager and Charles Russell Elementary Schools. Since 1999, she has also been working with an AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) class at Boyd County High School to help students prepare for the math section of the ACT.

In 2004, she established the Theodore C. amp; Bennie J. Shields Scholarship Fund in memory of her husband and in support of education. Ted and I both felt strongly about the value of education and how much we had both benefited from our respective educations, Shields said. With the establishment of this scholarship, we can keep on sharing this love of learning long after our lives have ended.

She was recognized as an outstanding ACTC benefactor at the KCTCS Presidents Gala in 2007 for establishing this scholarship fund that provides assistance to Boyd County High School graduates who demonstrate the potential for academic success.

For about 25 years, she has also been actively involved with scholarship activities and is currently involved with four scholarship committees. These include a committee in the Ashland Area Branch of the AAUW (American Association of University Women) and a committee in Chapter AJ of P.E.O (Philanthropic Education Organization).