Dr. Pam Dodge, current Executive Director of Special Programs and future principal at Prairie Trail Elementary School in Ankeny, received the Jordan Larson Award on May 2 from the educational administration faculty at Iowa State University. The Jordan Larson Award is given each year to an outstanding graduate in educational administration.

Dr. Dodge’s dissertation was a case study about how building administrators collect office discipline referral data and use it to make decisions. She was an elementary school teacher for 10 years and has also served as an assistant principal, principal, and district office school administrator for the past 13 years. She received both her master’s degree and her superintendent licensure through Iowa State University prior to earning her Ph.D in May of 2011.

“I am honored to be selected for the Jordan Larson Award, and I sincerely appreciate being recognized as both a school administrative leader and a graduate student,” Dr. Dodge said. “This award and the day itself will serve as a highlight from my many years at Iowa State University. To say it was memorable to be included with such a distinguished group of professors at a luncheon in my honor would be an understatement.”

The Jordan Larson award is in memory of Dr. Jordan Lewis Larson, a long-time school administrator in Iowa, who served as the superintendent for the Ames Community School District in the early 1940s. After moving on to become the superintendent at Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Dr. Larson was elected to the Presidency of the American Association of School Administrators and served during 1954 and 1955.
This award for excellence is supported by a foundation grant made by Superintendent Larson’s daughter-in-law, Collean Larson. The Jordan Larson Award includes a cash prize of $500 and a commemorative plaque.

Dr. Dodge received the award during an awards luncheon in Ames and was joined by distinguished ISU past and current professors.