IVCC’s Jerry Corcoran presides over final meeting after 15 years heading the college

intuitively knew as president his mission was about the people he worked with, and that knowledge was reflected each month by recognizing faculty and staff in his presidential report.

Jerry Corcoran sat in his final board of trustees meeting Thursday as Illinois Valley Community College president.

After 15 years as president and 33 years at the college, Corcoran will retire June 30. Tracy Morris will succeed him.

During his presidency, Corcoran opened the Ottawa Center satellite campus, oversaw the construction of the $30.5 million Peter Miller Community Technology Center project and the truck driver training facility, and provided oversight in the awarding of a record number of scholarships while also increasing foundation assets more than $5 million, leaving the college fiscally strong and debt free.

“For more than three decades, I’ve never had a day go by when I did not thank God for the chance to work at IVCC,” Corcoran said at a recent Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce dinner. “Over that time, especially the last 15 years, all I’ve ever asked for was the ability to make the tough decisions and wisdom to make the right decisions.

“There are a lot of good things hap-