Dr. Andy Tompkins, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Board of Regents, is set to speak in Ottawa during the monthly First Friday Forum.
Tompkins, who also sits on the board of directors for the Kansas Health Foundation, is expected to deliver a presentation 10 a.m. Friday at Washburn Towers, 526 S. Main St., Ottawa.
Formerly the dean of the college of education at Pittsburg State University, Tompkins now leads the governing board of the state’s six universities and the coordinating board for the state’s 32 higher-education institutions.
Tompkins also served as an associate professor in the department of education leadership and policy studies at the University of Kansas and as the Kansas Department of Education’s commissioner of education from 1996 to 2005.
Tompkins has received numerous accolades during his career, including distinguished alumni and service awards from Emporia State University and the University of Kansas, in addition to his induction into the Kansas Teacher’s Hall of Fame in 2001.
The First Friday Forum, which is organized by the City of Ottawa, The Ottawa Herald and the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce, is designed to inform and entertain the community on current events.