LINCROFT – The Brookdale Community College Alumni Association and the college honored four individuals for their commitment to excellence in education at the 29th Annual Barringer Awards Dinner.
This year’s honorees are Brookdale faculty members Thomas Berke of Red Bank, Eleanor Horgan of Wall and Linda Wang of Marlboro.
A special award also was presented to alumnus Louis Ferendo of Manchester, the man who came up with the idea for the award in 1986, named for its first recipient, Dr. Bob Barringer, the third president of Brookdale.
The Barringer Award is recognized within the college community as the alumni association’s most prestigious award. Brookdale faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and current and former trustees are eligible. A committee of alumni and college representatives determine the recipients.
Berke, a professor in the chemistry department, joined the college in 1970. He became Brookdale’s first director of educational computing, helping colleagues assimilate technology into classrooms and labs before it was commonplace. He was the college’s first director of energy conservation and president of the New Jersey chapter of the Two Year College Chemistry Conference. He is founder and member of the executive board of the Global Citizenship Project and co-advisor to Brookdale’s Students for Global Citizenship Club. In addition to his work at the college, he volunteers with the Red Bank Green Team, the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation, the Red Bank Democratic Club, the Monmouth University Chamber Orchestra and The Persichetti Five woodwind quintet.
Horgan, an associate professor in the counseling department, joined the student development division in the department of advising and counseling as a full-time faculty member in 2002. Trained in marriage and family therapy, she uses her clinical skills to guide students, families and colleagues. She was the first chair of the counseling department, a position she held from 2004 to 2010. Horgan was instrumental in establishing the college’s counseling crisis hotline. She developed and facilitated training for faculty and counseling staff on crisis response and intervention. She has served as co-chair of the college life committee and currently serves as chair of the basic skills committee. She is executive board member of the New Jersey Community College Counselor’s Association and a member of the Wall Township Democrats.
Wang, a professor in the mathematics department, joined Brookdale as a full-time faculty member in 1992. Throughout the past 23 years, she has been active in using technology to engage the learner. She developed online course materials for a number of classes, including an online elementary algebra class. She developed an online resource for using the T1-83/84 calculator. She has served as advisor for the Asia society since 1994. This year, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education selected her from among 350 top professors nationwide as the 2013 New Jersey Professor of the Year. In addition to her work with the college, she has been an active volunteer in the Chinese community in Monmouth County for more than 30 years.
Ferendo is a three-time graduate of Brookdale Community College. He has an A.A.S. in psychology/human behavior, an A.A. in communications design and an A.A. in humanities, English literature and writing. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Skidmore University. He was a longtime board member of the Brookdale Community College Alumni Association, serving as a vice president and president in the 1980s. As a student, he served as president of the student association and chairman of the student services board. He was a student member of the college senate, master plan committee, academic concerns committee and the master plan steering committee.
