Brinkley recently retired from Elon after guiding the transformation of Elon's approach to career services, which has been nationally recognized.
A little more than a decade ago, Elon University undertook an extensive transformation of its career services office. To lead this major initiative, now-President Connie Ledoux Book selected a leader who would create the vision and future of career services at Elon — Tom Brinkley.
In the 10 years Brinkley spent at Elon, he’s done exactly what the university asked him to do. He transformed the career services office into today’s Student Professional Development Center. Elon is now nationally recognized for its innovative and comprehensive approach to career services.
With his recent retirement, Brinkley was also honored with a Lifetime Membership Award through the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Employers. This professional association works to bring together career services professionals and employers with the goal of economic growth, employment and professional development across the state of North Carolina.
The association states that “Honorary Life Membership is awarded to individuals who have made notable and significant contributions to the Association over the course of their active membership in NCACE.” Candidates for the recognition must have been active in the association for at least seven years and must no longer be eligible for active membership because of retirement, job transition, or other similar reasons, according to the association’s guidelines.
“I’m honored to have been recognized by my peers at the North Carolina Association of College & Employers Annual Conference with the Lifetime Membership Award,” Brinkley says. “I want to thank the staff of the Student Professional Development Center at Elon for their support and outstanding work over the last 10 years, helping the SPDC become a nationally ranked career center. This award is as much for SPDC team as it is an individual achievement award.”
The SPDC thanks Tom Brinkley for his leadership, and for making Elon’s vision come to life in the Student Professional Development Center.