Two High Point University staff members were awarded $5,000 from the Kenneth F. and Jana S. Kahn Extraordinary Staff Award for their above and beyond service to the university.
Nancy Gordon, assistant vice president for business services, and Jeffrey “J.T.” Thomas, campus security officer, received the honor from HPU President Nido Qubein in front of colleagues and their family members. Gordon has been a member of the HPU family for 20 years, and Thomas has been with the university for nearly nine years.
“We have an HPU parent who found out we give awards to faculty, and wanted to share awards with staff,” says Dr. Qubein. “I’m so grateful for the Kahn family who established this endowment for our staff. Nancy and J.T. have deserved this award from the beginning.”
“I am deeply honored to be a recipient of the first Kahn Extraordinary Staff Award,” says Gordon. “I am very grateful to the generous Kahn Family for investing in staff merit, Dr. Qubein for inspiring me to do purposeful work with a positive attitude, the dedicated faculty and staff who faithfully work with me each day to support the mission of High Point University, and our incredibly bright students for their passion and ideas which motivate me to learn and grow.”
“What an honor and humbling experience,” says Thomas. “I am retired military, so when I got to HPU it became a second family. I am blessed to work in an environment where I can excel at my work and where I feel everyone matters.”
Last year, the Kahn family and University Business Magazine of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, established the Kenneth F. and Jana S. Kahn Extraordinary Staff Award to honor two HPU employees who provide dedicated service to the campus community and live out the university’s mission to provide students with an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.
Kenneth Kahn graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree and from Harvard University with a law degree. He is president of LRP Media Group, a multimillion-dollar global media company serving education and business professionals, which he started in 1977. Recently LRP Media Group acquired University Business, a multimedia resource that provides cutting-edge coverage of education news, technology, academics, facilities management, security, financial services, policy, profiles and opinion. Ken serves on various boards, including the HPU Board of Trustees, and has been honored by many business and civic organizations for his involvement. Jana Shellington Kahn serves as chief marketing officer with LRP. They have a daughter who attends HPU.
