Campus News

Calhoun Community College mourns the passing of Dr. Marilyn C. Beck a visionary leader, a tireless advocate for students, and the woman who transformed this institution in ways that will endure for generations.

Named Calhoun’s 4th president in November 2002, Dr. Beck made history as the College’s first and only permanent woman president. From the moment she began her tenure on January 27, 2003, she was, in every sense, all in.

In her very first fall semester, Dr. Beck led Calhoun to its largest enrollment in history: 9,046 students. By 2010, that number had grown to more than 12,000, making Calhoun the largest two-year college in Alabama. She expanded access beyond numbers: launching 4CTV’s reach into Athens/Limestone County, pioneering one of the country’s first alternative class schedules to ease the burden of rising gas prices on students, and opening day classes at the Huntsville/Cummings Research Park campus following the end of Alabama’s desegregation case.

Dr. Beck built Calhoun, brick by brick. On the Decatur campus, she led a $44 million construction and renovation project that produced the Health Sciences Center (dedicated 2007) and the Math, Science and Administration Building (unveiled 2008). On the Huntsville campus, she spearheaded a $34 million effort, securing 9.91 acres on Wynn Drive and breaking ground on a new Science, Math and Computer Science building in December 2014. She also brought the Alabama Center for the Arts to life in downtown Decatur, a lasting cultural gift to the entire region.

Dr. Beck understood that Calhoun’s mission was inseparable from the economic health of North Alabama. A 2008 report confirmed it: Calhoun’s statewide economic impact totaled more than $221 million, the highest return on investment of any two-year college in Alabama at $11.56 for every $1 invested.

She secured more than $12 million in federal grants to launch the Center for Manufacturing Innovation, the WIRED regional workforce initiative, and the Alabama Center for Excellence in Clean Energy Technology. She partnered with Governor Bob Riley to bring the Alabama Robotics Technology Park to Calhoun, and with HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology to launch Alabama’s first Biotechnology associate degree program. The AL FAME advanced manufacturing program, developed with Toyota, opened in 2014. By 2005, she had secured a record $13 million in public and private grants in a single year.

At her core, Dr. Beck believed in people. She launched the Alabama Fatherhood Program, later renamed the Alabama Parenthood Initiative, in 2004. She brought baseball and softball back to campus in 2005. She created the TIME program in 2012 to serve working adults pursuing degrees on weekends. She guided Calhoun through SACSCOC reaccreditation and into the Achieving the Dream National Reform Network, one of just 12 colleges nationally selected in 2014.

Calhoun was named a Top 50 Associate Degree producer for Nursing, and was the only Alabama college named a finalist for the national Bellwether Award in 2013.

When Dr. Beck retired on December 31, 2014, the Calhoun Foundation Board permanently endowed the Dr. Marilyn Beck Scholarship, presenting her with a $50,000 check to launch the fund. That scholarship continues to open doors for students today, a living expression of everything she stood for.

“Calhoun Community College is not unique in our challenges as we work toward our goal of success for every student. However, with this wonderful opportunity to work with Achieving the Dream, these challenges will become our strengths and the success of our students will continue to increase.” — Dr. Marilyn C. Beck

Thank you, Dr. Beck, for everything you built, everyone you believed in, and the legacy you left behind. Calhoun will carry your vision forward, always.