COVINGTON, Ky. — MTSU alumnus G. Edward Hughes, Gateway Community and Technical College president and CEO, has been awarded the prestigious Founders Award by the Covington Business Council for his visionary leadership to establish an Urban/Metro Campus in the northern Kentucky city.

MTSU alumnus G. Edward Hughes, at left, Gateway Community and Technical College president and CEO, was awarded the Founders Award by the Covington (Ky.) Business Council on Aug. 1. Standing beside him is Pat Frew, executive director of the Covington Business Council and CBC Foundation. (Submitted photo)

The award was presented at the CBC Foundation annual dinner Aug. 1, according to a release from Gateway Community and Technical College. Hughes received a master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1973.

“There is no person more appropriate to receive the Covington Business Council Founder’s Award than Dr. Ed Hughes,” said Pat Frew, executive director of the Covington Business Council and CBC Foundation, in the release.“Dr. Hughes has led an amazing effort to take the idea of a new urban campus in the heart of Covington and make it a reality this past year.”

“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of the dozens and dozens of community leaders, government officials, concerned citizens, Gateway’s board of directors, faculty, staff and students, the Gateway Foundation and our planning consultants,” Hughes said. “When we announced the campus initiative, it was done with a partnership of the city, the county, the library and the public schools. Everyone has devoted many hours of collaboration, negotiation, discussion and visioning, and all of the participants are worthy of recognition.”

According to the release, Gateway unveiled a master plan for the Urban/Metro Campus in November. The campus, estimated to cost $80 million over the next decade, features the adaptive re-use of nine existing properties, along with new construction, in an overall framework that will transform the region’s urban core into a vibrant college community with opportunities for economic development as well as postsecondary education.

A native of Gettysburg, Pa., Hughes is Gateway’s founding president/CEO. Before joining Gateway, he served as president of Hazard Community College from 1985 to 2001. He is past president of the Community Colleges of Appalachia (2000-01) and the Southern Association of Community, Junior and Technical Colleges (2001-02).

His previous education experience includes faculty and administrative positions at Mississippi County Community College in Arkansas, Jackson State Community College in Tennessee, Southern Illinois University, and the North Country Community College in New York.

Hughes earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Catawba College and MTSU, respectively, and a Ph.D. in higher education from Southern Illinois University.