Two long-standing members of the Waubonsee Community College Board of Trustees have retired from their service on the board.
Richard “Shorty” W. Dickson and Richard C. Bodie, M.D., have both served the college with distinction and the impact of their service will be felt for many years to come. Their final regular meeting with the board was on April 17. To honor their years of service, the board has adopted resolutions in their names.
Dickson, a retired insurance executive from Bristol, served 45 years on the college’s board of trustees, from 1972 until 1987 and then again from 1989 until the present. In those years he has served as an officer of the board for 40 years, 29 years as chair and 11 years as vice chair.
During his time of service to the college, Dickson helped guide it from its rural beginning to one that serves one of Illinois’ largest and most diverse population centers. In 1972, the college had less than 3,300 students. Today, the college has more than 24,000 students enrolled in credit and noncredit courses across four campuses, as well as online.
During the planning and construction of the college’s Sugar Grove Campus, Dickson advocated for the conservation and preservation of the land the campus was built on. Also during his tenure, he oversaw the completion of the 2020 College Master Plan, five years ahead of schedule and on budget.
His dedication to the college and to the community has allowed Waubonsee to become an educational leader in the 21st century.
In addition to his contributions to the entire college through his service on the board, Dickson has advanced the education of individual students through the Anita Memorial and Richard “Shorty” Dickson Scholarship; two annual awards of $500 for tuition, fees or books.
In addition to his service to Waubonsee, Dickson is an active member of the Dickson-Murst Farm Partners, which manages the homestead building that houses the Kendall County offices of the Conservation Foundation and he serves on the Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District Board.
In 1987, the College Center on the Sugar Grove Campus was renamed Dickson Center in honor of his service to the college. In 2014, Dickson was recognized by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association with the “40-Year Trustee Service Award” designation in recognition of his four decades of service to Waubonsee. He and a colleague from College of Lake County were the first in the state to earn that distinction. He is scheduled to receive the “45-Year Trustee Service Award” this year. He was named Waubonsee’s Distinguished Contributor in 2017.
For his many years of service and for his contributions to the college, Waubonsee has conferred the title of ”Board of Trustees Chair Emeritus” on Dickson.
Bodie, a retired physician from Aurora, served on the college’s board of trustees since 1998. He was originally appointed to the position when his wife, Janet Bodie, passed away. Mrs. Bodie had served on the college’s board of trustees since 1980. Bodie Hall is named in her honor.
Dr. Bodie ran for election to the position after his initial appointed term. The Bodie family service to Waubonsee Community College spans 38 years.
Bodie served the community as a general and thoracic surgeon from 1954 through 1986. From 1970 until 1986 he also served as the director of the Kane County Tuberculosis Clinic and as the director of the Kane County Health Department from 1985 until 1990. He also served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1950 to 1953 at Madigan Army Hospital at Fort Lewis, Washington and with a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit in Korea.
While serving on the college’s board of trustees, Bodie has championed the stewardship of taxpayer resources; and advocated at the state and federal level for important community college legislative initiatives including enhanced student financial aid programs and workforce training programs. He also established and funded scholarships in memory of his late wife.
Bodie served as the college’s representative to the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) and was on the Executive Committee from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2016 to 2018. In 2010 and in 2014, Bodie received a Trustee Education Award from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association for participation in 30 or more seminars offered by the ICCTA.
Waubonsee Community College pays tribute to Mr. Dickson and Dr. Bodie for their remarkable service and tremendous contributions to the college.
