Delaware Tech’s Dr. Bobbi Barends awarded for leadership

Delaware Technical Community College announced that Dr. Bobbi Barends has been named the winner of the 2018 Delaware American Council on Education Women’s Network Leadership Award. The award is granted to a woman who has excelled in the field of higher education, has been successful in demonstrating steps to success, and serves as a role model for rising stars in higher education.

Barends became vice president and campus director for Delaware Tech’s Jack F. Owens Campus in Georgetown in January 2017. She previously served as occupational therapy assistant department chair, assistant dean of instruction, assistant to the campus director and dean of instruction. Prior to her tenure at Delaware Tech, she was adjunct faculty and assistant professor of occupational therapy at Elizabethtown College. Her career has included teaching, advisement, faculty and staff development, campus and collegewide planning and assessment, oversight of marketing and public relations, fundraising and grant writing, program development, and outreach to K-12, higher education and community partners.

“Dr. Barends is a tremendous asset to our Georgetown campus and to the college,” said Dr. Mark Brainard, Delaware Tech president. “She is a true leader and an important role model for our students.”

Barends earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s degree in occupational therapy at Misericordia University, and a PhD in education from Walden University. She has served on numerous boards and committees including the Carl M. Freeman F.A.C.E.S Foundation, Friends of CASA, and the 2015 Vision steering committee. She is currently a Court Appointed Special Advocate and a board member for Kent-Sussex Industries.

As a chapter of the national ACE Network Organization, DAWN upholds the mission of identifying women leaders, developing women’s leadership abilities, encouraging the use of those abilities, advancing women’s careers, linking women to other women and mentors, and supporting women in mid- and executive-level positions throughout their careers.

For more information, go to www.delawareacewomensnetwork.org.