NOBLE, IL (WTWO/WAWV) — The Illinois Eastern Community Colleges held a renaming and dedication ceremony on Friday.
The West Richland Center was formally renamed on Friday at 10:00 a.m. in honor of the former Chief Executive Officer of The Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Terry Bruce.
Bruce served 23 years as the IECC`s CEO and retired in 2019. In June, the Board of Trustees issued a statement dedicating the center to honor Bruce’s efforts.
“I was very surprised,” said Bruce. “It was not something I had ever thought about, but I`m very honored.”
Serving as the Board Chairman during part of Bruce`s tenure as CEO, Dr. G. Andrew Fischer commented on the dedication.
“Terry Bruce was a fantastic CEO, statesman, and leader in our communities. Illinois Eastern Community Colleges was so very blessed to have him at the helm for so many years. Mr. Bruce’s vision and aspirations for the district were always such a driving force. Terry had a way of envisioning a concept or idea and bringing it to fruition in such a way that benefitted everyone involved,” Fischer said.
In addition to dedicating the Terry L. Bruce West Richland Center the IECC also celebrated the grand opening ceremony for the Small Business Development Center located in the building.
“I was a conductor. I was fortunate that we had a lot of good people working at IECC while I was there. We did a lot to make IECC financially secure. I am also proud of all of the students that we helped educate in my time,” Bruce said.
