When Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton retired last year after 21 years as president of Cuyahoga Community College, many people worried that she would leave the Cleveland area. To their relief, Thornton, president emeritus of the college, stayed.
The concern is a testament to her leadership on and off campus, says David Whitehead, a member and former chair of the Cuyahoga Community College District Board of Trustees.
Thornton stepped into a challenging situation when she accepted the presidency. Her predecessor left under “difficult circumstances,” Whitehead says.
“She had to build confidence and trust with her board, and gain the confidence and trust of the community and the business leadership,” he recalls. “She did it in a relatively short period of time and continued to build on that. … And she became one of the most influential people in Northeastern Ohio.”
As the third president—and first female leader—in the college’s 50-plus-year history, Thornton guided the school through unprecedented growth and development. She oversaw a surge in enrollment from 23,000 to 32,000 students. She campaigned to sustain the tax levy that supports the college. She grew its foundation from $1.3 million to nearly $40 million. She convinced the world-famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to house its archives on campus.
After a career that spans nearly 40 years, including one of the longest tenures of an urban campus president, Thornton’s legacy is firmly planted in the community college field and at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C), where a scholarship and a center bearing her name recognize her many contributions to the school.
