Georgia Perimeter College’s Dr. Jeffrey Portnoy has been named one of two recipients of the inaugural National Collegiate Honors Council Ron Brandolini Award for Excellence at a Two-Year Institution.

The award is presented by the NCHC and the Valencia College (FL) Foundation in memory of Ron Brandolini, founding director of Valencia College’s honors program and an active NCHC member. Brandolini died in 2012.

Portnoy is the college-wide director of Georgia Perimeter’s Honors Program and a professor of English on Clarkston Campus. He is co-chair of the NCHC’s Publications Board and serves as general editor of the NCHC Monograph Series. He also was named an NCHC Fellow in 2010.

“Jeff is very deserving of this award as he has been the heart and soul of the GPC Honors Program since he arrived in 1992,” says Phil Smith, interim vice president for Academic Affairs. “His naming as one of the initial recipients of this award is a reflection of Jeff’s outstanding work and reputation in the area of honors programs across the country.”

Portnoy says he is especially touched to win the Ron Brandolini Award because “Ron was a great friend and an important mentor when I first started working in the two-year honors environment.”

Also receiving the award is Julia Fennell of the Community College of Allegheny County.

The presentation will be made Nov. 8 at the NCHC Conference in Denver. The award recognizes a two-year college honors director or faculty member for outstanding contributions to the honors community. The winner—or winners, in this case—receive an engraved plaque and a $500 check for the honors program at the winner’s institution.