[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 97 (Monday, June 5, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RECOGNIZING DR. JEFFREY RAFN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MIKE GALLAGHER

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 5, 2023

  Mr. GALLAGHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the distinguished 
career of retiring Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) 
President, Dr. Jeffrey Rafn. An exemplary member of the Northeast 
Wisconsin community who has had an incredible impact on higher 
education.
  Dr. Rafn has held many roles during his 42-year career in education 
and is now retiring from his 26-year role as the president of NWTC. 
After earning his Ph.D. in sociology from Boston University, Dr. Rafn 
served as an educator and administrator throughout Massachusetts and 
New Hampshire. Dr. Rafn set an incredible bar as an educator and 
administrator, eventually becoming the State Commissioner of the New 
Hampshire Community Technical College System before moving to Northeast 
Wisconsin in 1997 to begin his career at NWTC.
  Dr. Rafn's time at NWTC has resulted in many major accomplishments 
from passing a $46.6 million building referendum in 2001 to a $66.5 
million building referendum in 2015. During his career, NWTC also 
became the first college in Wisconsin to utilize e-textbooks and saw 
significant expansion by creating campus locations beyond just the 
original Green Bay campus--in Sturgeon Bay and Vlarinette. Dr. Rafn is 
an innovative leader who spearheaded meaningful advancements that 
drastically improved the NWTC learning experience for all students
  During his 26 years at NWTC, Dr. Rafn was an inspirational leader who 
garnered an impressive list of accomplishments and led the institution 
to new heights. Under Dr. Rafn's leadership, NWTC was recognized by 
Community College Weekly in 2003 as the fastest growing large community 
college in the nation and more recently, in 2021 was recognized as a 
Leader College of Distinction by Achieving the Dream. Dr. Rafn won the 
Wisconsin Technical College System Eagle Management Award in 2019 and 
won the Lifetime Achievement Award from Vistage in the same year. Dr. 
Rafn's accomplishments throughout his career did not go unnoticed and 
his lengthy list of awards is demonstrative of that fact. I commend Dr. 
Rafn for his dedication and commitment to NWTC and to Northeast 
Wisconsin.
  Outside of his responsibilities as president of NWTC, Dr. Rafn has 
been an active member of the community and has been committed to 
advancing education in all ways possible. He currently serves or has 
served on several commissions and boards such as: the Educational 
Leadership & Policy Analysis Council at UW Madison, the Brown County 
United Way Board of Directors, the Advisory Board of Community College 
Research Council at Teachers College at Columbia University, the 
Executive Committee on Advance Business Development, and many more. Dr. 
Rafn has truly applied his leadership skills and utilized his profound 
experience to better his community and higher education.
  Dr. Rafn served close to 1 million students and created a legacy that 
will be admired by educators for years to come. Dr. Rafn's presence as 
President of NWTC will be missed and his distinguished career deserves 
the highest degree of recognition. I wish him and his family all the 
best in retirement.