Olson honored as Icon of Education

  Tuesday, March 8, 2016 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

Lynette Olson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Pittsburg State University, was one of 11 persons named 2016 Icons of Education by Ingram’s, a business magazine in Kansas City, Mo.

Ingram’s defines Icons of Education as educators who “in classrooms or administrative roles, have demonstrated exceptional ability to influence students and elevate their academic performance, or whose administrative contributions have enabled teaching staffs to do the same.”

PSU President Steve Scott praised Olson’s leadership at the university.

“Provost Olson is an exceptional academic leader who has found the secret to balancing the role of a leader who energizes and motivates others while at the same time being a servant to those who she leads,” Scott said. “She expects those around her to have high expectations for themselves, exhibit humility, and always act in a professional manner and she models those characteristics on a daily basis.”

Olson earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian education from Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo., a master’s degree in student personnel and guidance/higher education at Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in family life education and consultation from Kansas State University.

Before coming to Pittsburg State University as chair of the Department of Family & Consumer Sciences and subsequently serving as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Olson fulfilled leadership roles as well while at Manhattan Christian College and South Dakota State University.

During her time as provost, Pittsburg State University has significantly increased the number of online courses and programs and established an eLearning Academy to support faculty development in the use of technology for course development and delivery. Also under her leadership, PSU successfully achieved reaffirmation of regional accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission.

Special legislative allocations led to the establishment of three initiatives (School of Construction, Polymer Initiative, and Kansas Center for Career and Technical Education) during her tenure as provost. This past year, the first doctoral degree to be offered at Pittsburg State, the Doctor of Nursing Practice, saw its first student cohort enrolled.

Olson believes that the greatest measure of her own success is in that of the students and faculty she leads and serves on a daily basis. She told Ingram’s that helping others achieve success was one of the most satisfying aspects of her work.

“It’s much more exciting for me to hear about the successes of others, and realizing that, no matter how small my influence was in getting them to that point, I enjoy it as much as if they were my own accomplishments,” Olson told the magazine. “That’s what energizes me.”