Dr. Eugene Hughes received the Nebraska Community College Association (NCCA) 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award. During the annual NCCA Award Ceremony on November 3 in Lincoln, NE, Hughes, a 1954 Graduate of Scottsbluff Junior College, the predecessor of Western Nebraska Community College, was recognized as WNCC’s Distinguished Alumni of 2014.
Dr. Eugene Hughes was born in Nebraska in 1934. He spent childhood summers working the family farm with his grandfather. He majored in mathematics and science at Scottsbluff Junior College and graduated in 1954. Dr. Hughes went on to earn his B.S. in mathematics, graduating magna cum laude, from Chadron State Teacher’s College, his M.S. in 1958 from Kansas State University, and his Ph.D. from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1968.
Gene served as a faculty member and administrator of three different institutions of higher education from 1957 until his final retirement in 2001. He rose through the ranks at Chadron State College where he served as an assistant professor, professor, and department chair of mathematics. He was also the assistant to both the dean of the college and president and dean of administration.
At Northern Arizona University, he was professor of mathematics and dean, College of Arts and Sciences; provost, University Arts and Sciences; academic vice president; and then president for 14 years. As president at NAU, he founded a unique 2 + 2 cooperative program with Arizona Western Community College in Yuma, AZ (known as NAYuma) that has since become a branch campus of NAU. He partnered with the state's community colleges to form a statewide "educational extension service" patterned after the agricultural extension service. He was also recognized as a founder of Coconino Community College in Flagstaff in spite of what many saw as his support for an organization in direct competition for students who might otherwise enroll at Northern Arizona University.
After retirement from NAU, he moved to Wichita State University in Kansas as its 11th president, serving until 1999. In 2001, Gene served as interim president of Eastern Kentucky University. At each university, Gene worked to enhance opportunities for minority and other underrepresented faculty, staff, and students. This included his "New Momentum" for Native Americans in Arizona and work with black community leaders, faculty, staff, and students while in Wichita. In Kentucky, those efforts focused on first-time students from Appalachia.
In retirement, he has served a six-year term as co-president of an organization devoted to helping the less fortunate in his community, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Gene's work in education has included not only higher education, but also as a member and president of the Arizona State Board of Education for K12 schools. He served as president/CEO of the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.
Gene has been a strong supporter of all aspects of the universities he has served including academics, research, student services, and athletics. He is recognized as an innovator, visionary, and entrepreneur, and as one who has always worked to enhance homegrown relationships. As but one example of the latter, Gene was responsible for bringing both the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Suns professional training camps to NAU and Flagstaff-both of which enhanced economic development in the area.
Honors and Accolades:
Distinguished Mathematics Graduate Award, Kansas State University 1989
Distinguished Service Award, Chadron State College 1982
Flagstaff, AZ, Citizen of the Year 1988
Chief Manuelito Award from the Navajo Tribe 1983
Buddy Joe Bojack Humanitarian Award 1992
Gold Axe Award from the students of NAU 1993
School of Hotel and Restaurant Management Building at NAU named the Eugene M. Hughes
Building 1997
Wichita State University named the Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex 1999
Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers 1998
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from NAU 1997 and from Chadron State College
2003
Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Eastern KY University 2011
Commissioned an Honorary Kentucky Colonel 2010 and an Admiral in the Great Navy of
the State of Nebraska 2013, both honors being the highest that can be awarded by the
Governors of those two states.
Recognized as a founder of Coconino Community College
Induction into the Flagstaff Sports Hall of Fame 2011
For more information, contact WNCC Alumni Relations Director Tina Deuker at 308. 630.6571or email alumni@wncc.edu.