Dr. James Jacobs Receives 2013 Noland Award

Dr. James (Jim) Jacobs, president of Macomb Community College, was awarded the 2013 Mariam C. Noland Award for Nonprofit Leadership at the Community Foundation’s annual meeting June 12. This annual award recognizes a nonprofit president or CEO in southeast Michigan whose service exemplifies the importance of nonprofit leadership, not only to his or her organization, but also to the wider nonprofit community.

Jacobs has more than 40 years of experience at Macomb Community College and became president in 2008. Specializing in the areas of workforce skills and technology, economic development, worker training and community college workforce development, he has demonstrated local, regional and national leadership on the vital role that community colleges can play in supporting social, cultural and education policy.

The Grosse Pointe resident is widely known for the Macomb County Economic Forecast, which he has presented annually for 29 years for the coalition of county’s chambers of commerce. Currently, he serves on the Governor’s Talent Investment Board, which advises Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on job creation and talent development and retention. Jacobs also sits on several local boards, including the Center for Automotive Research, Metropolitan Affairs Council and Detroit Institute of Arts.

Additionally, he is a past president of the National Council for Workforce Education, a national post-secondary organization of occupational education and workforce development specialists, and a member of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Assessment of Career and Technical Education. He also is a member of the Community College Advisory Panel to the Educational Testing Service in Princeton New Jersey.