MHEC annually recognizes exemplary leadership and service to the Compact.

The Phillip L. Sirotkin Award

Dr. Phillip L. Sirotkin (1923‐2007) was the founding father and senior adviser of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC). His skill at developing collaborative arrangements among state governments and higher education institutions was tapped to help create and establish a higher education compact among 12 states in the Midwest, the only section of the country that did not have a regional agreement at that time. After working with state officials to found MHEC in the 1990s, Sirotkin served several years as a senior adviser to the commission.

Sirotkin also served as the longtime executive director of MHEC’s sister compact, the Boulder‐based Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). He guided WICHE from 1976 to 1989, during which time the 15‐state higher education organization created and extended cost‐effective educational programs and opportunities that benefit students and public and private colleges and universities throughout the West. Born in Illinois, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University (MI) in 1945, and his master’s degree and doctorate in political science and constitutional law from the University of Chicago between 1947 and 1951.

Phillip L. Sirotkin Award Criteria

  • Exemplary leadership service to the Midwestern Higher Education Compact
  • Passion for postsecondary education
  • Innovation and creation of ideas that advance collaboration and cooperation in education
  • Creation of MHEC programs and services
  • Years of service to MHEC
  • Securing participation in MHEC programs and services
  • Building regional partnerships for effective and efficient access to, and quality of higher education in the states and in the Midwest
  • Promoting and identifying opportunities to increase visibility for MHEC within states, regionally and nationally

Phillip L. Sirotkin Award Recipients

  • 2024 – Mr. Robert J. Trembath, MHEC Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel
  • 2023 – Mr. Larry Tidemann (SD), MHEC Commissioner and Treasurer
  • 2022 – Dr. David Eisler (MI), MHEC Commissioner and Past Chair
  • 2021 – Rep. Barbara Ballard (KS), MHEC Commissioner and Chair, MHEC Governance Committee
  • 2020 – Dr. Ken Sauer (IN), MHEC Commissioner and Past Chair
  • 2019 – Dr. Stephanie Davidson (OH), MHEC Commissioner
  • 2018 – Mr. Larry A. Isaak (MN), MHEC President (2003-2018)
  • 2017 – Dr. Rolf Wegenke (WI), MHEC Commissioner
  • 2016 – Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (WI), MHEC Commissioner and past MHEC Chair
  • 2014 – Mr. Robert N. Downer (IA), MHEC Commissioner and past MHEC Chair
  • 2013 – Dr. Randolph Ferlic (NE), MHEC Commissioner and past MHEC Chair
  • 2012 – Dr. Gerald Brouder (MO), former MHEC Commissioner
  • 2011 – Dr. William Napier (OH), MHEC Commissioner and past MHEC Chair
  • 2010 – Rep. Lyndon Carlson (MN), MHEC Commissioner, Commissioner Alternate, and Past MHEC Chair
  • 2009 – Sen. Lana Oleen (KS), Past MHEC Chair and Interim MHEC President
  • 2007 – Dr. David Murphy (MN), MHEC President Emeritus
  • 2001 – Dr. William Sederburg (MI), First Chair of the MHEC Commission
  • 1999 – Dr. Phillip Sirotkin (CO), MHEC Founding Father and Senior Advisor

Outstanding Service Award Criteria

  • Years of service to MHEC
  • Creation of MHEC programs and services
  • Securing participation in MHEC programs and services
  • Strong commitment to the MHEC principles
  • Increasing MHEC visibility in private industry
  • Promotion of public/private partnerships for the betterment of higher education
  • Exemplary leadership service to the Midwestern Higher Education Compact
  • Setting an example as a mentor for other volunteers
  • Innovation and creation of ideas that advance collaboration and cooperation in education

Outstanding Service Award Recipients

  • 2024 – Dr. Morna Foy, Former President, Wisconsin Technical College System; and Mr. Dirk Huggett, Assistant CIO for Administration, North Dakota University System2009 – Dennis Linster, CIO, Wayne State College (NE) – since retired 2010
  • 2023 – Mr. Aric Kirkland, Director of Desktop and Classroom Technology, Eastern Michigan University; and Dr. Kathleen Fimple, Academic Programs Officer, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education
  • 2022 – Joseph Rayzor, Director of Risk Management, University of Northern Iowa; and Jared Shank, Director of Military and Apprenticeship Initiatives and Special Projects at the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Network, Ohio Department of Higher Education
  • 2021 – Shellie Haut, Executive Director/Licensure, Regulatory Services & Human Capital, Central Michigan University; and Tracy Korsmo, Enterprise Architect for the SLDS and BI Program Manager, North Dakota Information Technology
  • 2020 – Diana Malott, Director, Watkins Health Services at The University of Kansas; Tanya Spilovoy, Director, Open Policy for WCET; and Betsy Talbot, Manager of the Private Institution Registration and Licensing for the Minnesota Office of Higher Education
  • 2019 – Gretchen Bartelson, Dean of the Center for Teaching  and Learning, Northwest Iowa Community College, and Tari Lambert, Director, Transfer Indiana Central Office, Indiana Commission for Higher Education
  • 2018 – Pam Schutt, MHEC Director of State Relations – since retired, March 2018
  • 2017 – Sue Maes, Emeritus Dean for Continuing Education at the K-State Global Campus for Kansas State University
  • 2016 – Patricia “PJ” Kale, Executive Director of Risk Management, University of Illinois
  • 2015– Carla Ahrens, Risk Manager, State of Missouri; and Greg Clayton, Director of Benefits and Risk Management, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • 2014 – Ruth Ginzberg, Sr. I.T. Procurement Specialist, University of Wisconsin System
  • 2013 – John Dunning, CIO, Wayne State College (NE) & MHEC Technologies Committee Chair
  • 2012 – Ken Sauer, Senior Associate Commissioner for Research and Academic Affairs, Indiana Commission for Higher Education
  • 2011 – Grant Crawford, CIO and consultant, MHEC; MHEC Technologies Committee and CIO, North Dakota University System