Dr. Rassoul Dastmozd, President of Saint Paul College, received the 2016 Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction at Phi Theta Kappa’s national convention in National Harbor, Maryland, April 7-9. Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society of two-year colleges, of which the College’s Beta Xi Alpha Chapter is a member. “I am very humbled by this award, but the true stars are the high-achieving students at Saint Paul College and our dedicated PTK advisors Ayesha Shariff and Beth Arnold.”

President Dastmozd was nominated by the Phi Theta Kappa student officers for this prestigious award. In their nomination letter, the students wrote, "President Dastmozd's support for Phi Theta Kappa not only encourages our success as a chapter and aids the leadership development of individual members, it promotes the academic success of students across the school." 

College presidents and campus CEOs are selected for this award on the basis of outstanding efforts given toward promoting the goals of Phi Theta Kappa. The award is named for the late Dr. Shirley B. Gordon, Phi Theta Kappa's longest-serving Board of Directors Chair and President Emeritus of Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington. Gordon was named Phi Theta Kappa's Most Distinguished College President in 1984.​

President Dastmozd with Saint Paul College students Suad Moosa, Tasha Spencer, Neil Mawah, and Joe Cregan.	President Dastmozd with Dr. Ayesha Shariff, PTK Beta Xi Alpha Chapter advisor.