FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact Bethany Kendrick
Director Public Relations
Labette Community College
(620) 820-1280

 

Daniels Named Labette Community College Cardinal Citation Award Winner

 

Gary J. Daniels has been named the 2010 Cardinal Citation Award winner by the Labette Community College Alumni Association and Labette Community College. This is the highest honor that is bestowed to an individual for lifetime achievement by LCC.

 

The Cardinal Citation Award is presented annually at Commencement. The criteria are: the nominee must be a living person who has had significant lifetime achievements to his or her profession, community, state, or nation; the nominee must have a current or past association with Labette Community College; and the nominee does not have to be a graduate of LCC.

 

Each year LCC and the LCC Alumni Association recognize an individual for a lifetime of outstanding service to their community and/or to the college. A distinguished panel of community members review nominations and recommend a Citee. The Citee is honored the evening of Commencement during a reception for all former Citees, their families, invited guests, and the public. The Citee is presented an award and is a speaker at Commencement. The Citee's framed portrait is hung in the Gallery of Cardinal Citation Recipients in the college's main administration building.

 

Daniels is a 1962 graduate of LCC, formerly known as Parsons Junior College. He received his Bachelor of Arts in June of 1965 from the Kansas State College of Pittsburg in Psychology. Daniels also obtained his Master of Science in Psychology from Kansas State College of Pittsburg a year later. He later obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from Ohio State University in 1973.  

 

Daniels began his professional career at Parsons State Hospital and Training Center in Parsons, KS in 1962. He began as a Psychiatric Aide and moved on to become a Psychology Trainee. He was a Clinical Psychologist for Four County Mental Health Clinic of Independence, KS and a Clinical Psychologist for Parsons State Hospital and Training Center from 1966-1967. Daniels was a Staff Psychologist at the Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH from 1973-1979. He then went on to be a Research Associate for the Bureau of Child Research at the University of Kansas from 1978-1980. He has been a visiting Lecturer for the Department of Psychology at Pittsburg State University and a member and on the advisory board for Labette Community College’s Special Education Paraprofessional Training program (1980-present), for the School of Education and Psychology at Emporia State University (1979-1981), for the Office of Educational Services in the School of Education at Pittsburg State University (1982-1984), and for the Mental Health Technology Program at Labette Community College (1983-present).  From 1979-2004, Daniels was the Superintendent at Parsons State Hospital and Training Center. He served as Cabinet Secretary for Social and Rehabilitations in Topeka, KS from 2004-2006, was an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Emporia State University from 1980-1981, a Consultant Psychologist at Labette Center for Mental Health Services in Parsons, KS from 1984-1987, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Pittsburg State University from 1986-1999.  

 

Amongst many memberships in Professional Organizations, Daniels is currently a Licensed Psychologist in Kansas and a member of the National Association of Superintendents of Public Residential Facilities for the Mentally Retarded.

 

He has been recognized professionally as Administrator of the Year by the Kansas Association for Retarded Citizens (1983), he is an Honorary Member of the Kansas Association of Health Service Technology (1984), he received the Honored Alumni Award from the Department of Psychology and Counseling at Pittsburg State University (1986), and has received the Alumni Meritorious Achievement Award from Pittsburg State University (1997). 

Daniels has been involved with many community activities throughout his lifetime. He is a member of the Eleventh Judicial District of the Juvenile Justice Community Planning Team and of the Rotary Club in Parsons, where he was the President of Rotary from 1988-1989. He was the Parsons Dolphins Swim Team President from 1984-1994 and then became the treasurer from 1995-2001. He was the chairman of the Senior Citizens Organization and Development Committee, a member of the Municipal Auditorium Renovation Committee, and the chairman for Parsons Pride Committee all in Parsons. Daniels was also an elected member for the U.S.D. 503 Board from 1985-1989. He was a member of the Parsons United Way from 1979-1982 and held Presidency in 1982.

 

Daniels has had teaching experience at several different Universities including; Ohio State University, Pittsburg State University, and Kansas State University. He has had numerous publications and special achievements including being a Founding Board Member for the Parsons State Hospital Endowment Association, a Principal Founder for the Parsons State Hospital Day Care, Inc., and a Founding Board Member for the Southeast Kansas Respite Services, Inc., among many more.  

 

Daniels and his wife, Marcia, currently reside in Grove, OK. They have three children, Anna Gross, Bradley Daniels, and Phillip Daniels.  

 

Daniels will be honored at the Cardnal Citee Reception prior to commencement on Friday, May 21st at 5:30 p.m. at the Commercial Bank Community Room.  The public is invited to attend. For more information about the Cardinal Citee Award or this year’s recipient, Gary Daniels, please contact, Lindi Forbes at (620) 820-1212 or by e-mail at lindif@labette.edu