SIU Dedicates Poshard Transportation Education Center

(GLENN AND JO POSHARD)

The Glenn Poshard Transportation Education Center has been dedicated to honor the former SIU System president, whose efforts are credited with helping secure funding for the state-of-the-industry facility that houses Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s nationally recognized automotive and aviation programs.

The SIU Board of Trustees in July voted to rename the center, also called the TEC, after Poshard to recognize his lifelong engagement with SIU.  “Among his many notable achievements while serving as President of the SIU System is the fact that Dr. Poshard was instrumental in the building of the SIU Carbondale Transportation Education Center at Southern Illinois Airport,” the board resolution to approve the renaming said. “Through Dr. Poshard’s political savvy and long-term relationships in Springfield, he was able to secure the funding needed.”

Opened in 2012, the 187,083-square-foot facility — considered the premier transportation education center in the Midwest and among the top such facilities in the country — also comprises a 31,965-gross-square-foot fleet storage area and an 11,855-square-foot aviation test cell structure.

“To have my name on a building that houses two of the finest job creation schools in America — and nearly every student has a good high paying job before they graduate — is something I can point to with pride to my grandchildren and their grandchildren,” said Poshard, a former congressman who served as SIU System president from 2006 to 2014.

Poshard was quick to credit other university and system officials who at that time were also instrumental, noting it “only gets there through the work of a team.”