Lake Land College Board Honors Mitchell

(FROM LEFT, LINDA MILLER, DAUGHTER OF DR. GEORGE MITCHELL, AND LAKE LAND COLLEGE BOARD PRESIDENT GARY CADWELL)

The Lake Land College Board of Trustees posthumously honored Dr. George Mitchell the Clem G. Phipps Exemplary Trustee Award at Monday night's board meeting.

Mitchell’s daughter, Linda Miller of Norman, Okla., accepted the award on behalf of her father.

The award was named after Clem G. Phipps, first chair of the Lake Land College Board of Trustees, to recognize former trustees who have demonstrated leadership and dedication to Lake Land College and the community.

Lake Land Trustee Mike Sullivan nominated Mitchell for the award. Mitchell served as a Lake Land Trustee from 1977-1991. He served as the board chairman, chairman pro-tem, vice chairman and secretary. He also served on the Building and Grounds Committee, Finance Committee and Personnel Committee.

Mitchell served on the Lake Land Foundation Board of Directors from 1983 to 2006, including a two-year term as vice president and a five-year term as honorary director.

Mitchell has been noted as a country doctor, a healthcare pioneer, and a rural community advocate. He dedicated his medical career to serving Clark County for nearly 60 years. He developed the idea of a medical center in Marshall, and was actively involved in the Rural Medical Education program that prepares medical students who plan to serve as primary care physicians for rural communities. Mitchell authored An Account of the Life of a Country Doctor in 1994, which details his medical career and contributions to rural communities. The Illinois Academy of Family Physicians honored Mitchell in 1993 as the Health Practitioner of the Year. The National Rural Health Association selected Mitchell in 1995 as the National Health Practitioner of the Year. In 1996, he received the Purdue Alumni Association Citizenship Award.