Kern Community College District
The Jack Hernandez Phronesis Award and Lecture
The Jack Hernandez Phronesis Award and The Jack Hernandez Phronesis Lecture Series will honor a current employee of the Kern Community College District. Honorees must have a minimum of ten years' service (classroom or non-classroom).
Phronesis is the Greek word for “practical wisdom.” The distinctive mark of phronesis, and thus the purview of this proposed award, is applying one’s professional expertise, one’s academic training and skillset, to practical matters in one’s community.
Announcing The Jack Hernandez Phronesis Award
& The Jack Hernandez Lecture Series
Jack Hernandez Lecture Dinner
The inaugural Jack Hernandez Lecture dinner event will take place on September 29th, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Levan Center, Bakersfield College.
The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Nick Strobel who is the first recipient of the Jack Hernandez Phronesis Award.
Livestream
The event will be livestreamed on the Kern Community College District Youtube:
About the Award
The recipient will receive a check in the amount of $1,500.00 and a plaque in his/her honor. The recipient will present a lecture following the Board of Trustee’s meeting in April and will be held in the Levan Center.
A perpetual plaque of all recipients will be displayed in the Norman Levan Center for the Humanities at Bakersfield College.
Nominations
Any employee can nominate or provide supporting evidence for nominations. Members of the Award Committee may nominate or provide supporting evidence for nominations, but if so they must recuse themselves from the work of the committee for that year.
Those nominating someone will need to collect the evidence of their nominee’s contributions and show how their academic training informed those contributions. This award is not just a philanthropy award. As its title indicates, the award is intended to honor people who have used their formal academic training to improve their community in practical ways.
Award Committee
- Chancellor of the Kern Community College District (or designee): Sonya Christian
- Presidents of the three colleges (or designees): Zav Dadabhoy, Sean Hancock, Claudia Habib
- Academic Senate Presidents of the three colleges (or designees): Nick Strobel, Yvonne Mills, Robert Simpkins
- Classified Presidents of all three colleges (or designees): Chris Glaser, Vern Butler, Mike Barrett
- Director of the Levan Center: Reggie Williams
- Daughter of Jack Hernandez: Laura Ehlers
Timeline
- January 10, 2023: Announcement & call for nominations
- February 6, 2023: Nominations close
- February 7, 2023: Committee meets to review nominations
- March 9, 2023: (Board of Trustees Meeting): Recipient unveiled
- September 14, 2023: Dinner & Lecture (following Boart of Trustees meeting)