TCC professor Linda Williams receives excellence award from national organization

Williams, a Kill Devil Hills, N.C., resident, was named Professor of the Year for the college in 2015.

Williams is the face of TCC’s textbook-free Z-Degree in business administration. As the faculty lead, she has been featured in numerous articles and television interviews about the cutting edge program, which enables TCC students to earn an entire degree while spending zero funds for textbooks.

Williams, who has roots in industry, has been teaching at TCC’s Chesapeake Campus since 2009. She is the daughter of an entrepreneur and says that spirit stuck with her.

“I’ve owned several businesses and worked as an industry consultant for some large firms, from Sara Lee to DuPont to the U.S. Coast Guard. Those experiences prepared me to present business subjects with a real-world twist,” she said.

But Williams’ passion is engaging with students in the classroom. “You have to breathe life into the subjects you teach and enable students to imagine what they can do with the concepts they are learning,” she said. “I hold my students to extremely high standards and expect them to do the same for me.”

Created in 1978, NISOD is a membership organization committed to promoting and celebrating excellence in teaching, learning and leadership at community and technical colleges. 

TCC’s Sean LaCroix, also a business professor, received the award in 2015.

NISOD member colleges submit the names of men and women to be recognized with excellence awards based on their demonstration of outstanding commitment and contribution to students and colleagues.