Mayor of Bedford, Shawna Girgis, appointed to Ivy Tech-Bloomington Board of Trustees

Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus welcomes Mayor of the City of Bedford, Shawna Girgis, to its Regional Board of Trustees. The Ivy Tech State Board of Trustees passed a resolution appointing Girgis to the regional board, effective February 5, 2015.

Mayor Girgis is replacing Lawrence Co. resident, Jerry W. Lambrecht, a dairy farmer and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance agent, who retired from the Regional Board on January 27.

“We thank Jerry for his years of dedicated service on our board and he will be missed. As such, Shawna is an important addition as both Mayor of Bedford and resident of Lawrence Co., which is in Ivy Tech-Bloomington’s service area,” said Chancellor Vaughan. “Mayor Girgis has worked together with the college for a number of years to bring educational opportunities to residents of Lawrence Co., and understands Ivy Tech’s mission and the vital role it plays in the communities we serve.”

Mayor Shawna Girgis began her first term in January 2008, and as of January 2012, she is serving her second term in office. She is the first female to hold the office of the Mayor in the City of Bedford. Mayor Girgis is a graduate of Indiana University where she earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in social work. She moved back to Lawrence County when her husband, Dr. Kamal Girgis, began his practice in internal medicine.

Before that, in Indianapolis, Mayor Girgis was the program director of Teen Challenge, a residential group home, where she provided individual, group, and family counseling services for residents and their families. She was employed by Hoosier Uplands Economic Development Corporation in Mitchell, Ind. for six years where she served a 21 county region as the director of the Southeast/South Central Area Health Education Center. She served as the executive director of the Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) and also served on the organization’s Board of Directors for four years. Her most notable accomplishment at IRHA was the development of the Indiana Telehealth Network that resulted in the receipt of a $16 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission to develop a dedicated broadband network to connect rural health care providers and bring fiber infrastructure to rural communities through Indiana.

“I am thrilled to have been appointed to the Ivy Tech-Bloomington Regional Board of Trustees today, and fully support the college’s mission,” said Mayor of Bedford, Shawna Girgis. “With this appointment, I know we can continue to work together to create an increased presence of higher education in Lawrence Co. and more access for our citizens who aspire to become a ready workforce.”