A-B Tech 2016 Annual Ceremony Set for May 14
Dr. Don C. Locke, Ph.D., will deliver the keynote address at A-B Tech’s 2016 Commencement on Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 2 p.m. in the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville.
Locke, Vice Chair of A-B Tech’s Board of Trustees, retired in 2007 from UNC Asheville as Director of Diversity and Multiculturalism, and was named Distinguished Professor Emeritus at NC State University.
He previously served as Director of the Asheville Graduate Center and Director of the NC State University doctoral program in Adult and Community College Education at the Asheville Graduate Center. Before moving to Asheville in July 1993, Professor Locke headed the Department of Counselor Education at NC State University in Raleigh.
“We are honored to have a speaker of Dr. Locke’s caliber who has demonstrated a commitment to higher education, public service and inclusion throughout his career,” said A-B Tech President Dennis King. “I believe his address will be meaningful to our students, their families and friends, and our faculty.”
Locke has written or co-authored more than 100 publications, with a thematic focus on multicultural issues. His 1992 book, Increasing Multicultural Understanding, was a Sage Publications Best Seller; his co-authored book, Culture and Diversity Issues in Counseling, was published in 1996.
Locke received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision in 2014, and the organization named its mentoring award in his honor in 2014. He also received the 2015 community service award from the Martin Luther King Association of Asheville and Buncombe County and the 2015 Leadership Asheville Community Trustee Award from Leadership Asheville.
Locke is a member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and a life member of the American Counseling Association, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, Alpha Phi Alpha, the NAACP and the YMI Cultural Center. He also is member of the Buncombe County Health and Human Services Board and former member of the Pisgah Legal Services Board. He and his wife, Marjorie, live in Weaverville, NC.
About A-B Tech Community College
One of 58 colleges in the North Carolina Community College System, A-B Tech offers associate degrees, diplomas and certificates in more than 60 curriculum programs through its five academic divisions: Allied Health and Public Service Education, Arts and Sciences, Business and Hospitality Education, Emergency Services and Engineering and Applied Technology.
The Division of Economic and Workforce Development/Continuing Education offers opportunities for workforce partnerships, specific job training and retraining, as well as personal enrichment classes. A-B Tech enrolls more than 25,000 curriculum and continuing education students in programs at its Asheville, Enka, Madison, South, Woodfin and Goodwill locations.
For more information visit www.abtech.edu
