[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 131 (Tuesday, October 8, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE DISTINGUISHED PRESIDENCY OF DR. HAL RAMER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART GORDON

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 8, 2002

  Mr. GORDON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Hal Ramer 
for an outstanding career in higher education administration and for 
his accomplishments during his more than three decades serving as the 
president of Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee.
  Dr. Ramer has been at the helm of Vol State since the beginning. But 
that will soon change when Dr. Ramer retires on January 31, 2003. He 
has watched a small community college grow from a student population of 
560 in 1971 to about 7,000 today.
  Dr. Ramer was instrumental in helping form the state's community 
college system. He arrived at the Tennessee Department of Education in 
1963 and began a remarkable career reshaping the state's delivery of 
higher education. He was given the task of starting Volunteer State 
Community College on July 1, 1970, and had the college up and running 
in a year. Three decades later, Vol State has expanded its campus to 
include 31 teaching sites in 12 counties, providing a vital cog in the 
state's institutions of higher learning.
  All Tennesseans have benefitted from Dr. Ramer's commitment and 
dedication to higher education. Dr. Ramer has poured his very soul into 
nearly five decades serving as a higher education administrator. Dr. 
Ramer's leadership will be sorely missed at Vol State. I congratulate 
him for his efforts and accomplishments in providing Tennesseans with 
an education second to none and wish him the best in his well-deserved 
retirement.

                          ____________________