Pepperdine News and Events

GSEP Alumnus is First Community College President to Win Prestigious National Award

Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) alumnus and Georgia Perimeter College (GPC) President Dr. Anthony Tricoli will be honored in Washington DC this Friday, June 11th with the national Ralph S. Brown Award for Shared Governance from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

The first in his family to go to college, Dr. Tricoli began his education in Southern California at Golden West Community College. He went on to receive his doctorate degree from Pepperdine at the age of 28.

Dr. Tricoli began his career in Higher education at Compton Community College where he was the victim of a brutal attack during a break in one of his classes. He believes that he owes his life to a student searching for him after he failed to return to class. He has devoted every day since to improving student’s lives through education.

For the last four years, Dr. Tricoli has been transforming GPC through shared governance. GPC now has a model that involves more faculty and staff than ever before in its almost fifty-year history. Each of GPC’s five policy councils now includes at least two student representatives. Because of this model, Dr. Tricoli has been able to open two new campuses, develop an online campus, create partnerships with universities throughout Georgia and increase enrollment every year.

“As you might imagine, this transformation did not occur over night, “says Dr. Tricoli. “Most of my colleagues from around the country told me it would likely take 10 years to arrive, but because our college team owned this process, we gained success in less than five years.”

The AAUP has honored only five college presidents with the award since its inception in 1998. Dr. Tricoli will be the sixth recipient in the award's twelve-year history. The award was last presented in 2007.