LLCC mourns loss of founding president, Dr. Robert Poorman
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Lincoln Land Community College is mourning the loss of its founding president, Dr. Robert Poorman, who passed away Sunday, April 2. Arrangements are being handled by the Staab Funeral Home in Springfield.
“We stand on the shoulders of Dr. Robert Poorman at LLCC,” said Dr. Charlotte Warren, president of LLCC. “His vision, dedication to students, and unwavering support of faculty and staff laid the foundation for an institution that has changed the lives of thousands of residents over the last 56 years.”
Dr. Poorman, who held the title of President Emeritus, started his position on Dec. 1, 1967 and served for nearly 21 years. According to “Fifty Forward! The First 50 Years of Lincoln Land Community College,” by Dr. Betty Workman, “One of the first duties of the founding board was to hire a college president who would lead the creation of a comprehensive college with the mission as delineated in the Community College Act. They believed they found the ideal candidate, Dr. Robert L. Poorman, at Bakersfield College, Calif., where he was dean of students. … His vision was that a community college must be true to the comprehensive mission.”
Dr. Poorman oversaw the construction of the interim and permanent LLCC campuses. “In June 1968, a 10-acre site was leased for the interim campus where temporary buildings provided classroom space for several years. While the buildings were being constructed, Dr. Poorman also started searching locally and nationally for faculty and administrators to staff the new college. He said his goal was to ‘find people who are knowledgeable, care about students and are interested in serving their communities.’” Doors of the temporary campus opened Sept. 23, 1968. By December 1974, all on-campus college operations had been moved to the new buildings on the permanent campus site at 5250 Shepherd Road in Springfield.
Over the years of Dr. Poorman’s presidency, academic and career programs, athletics, fine arts, student groups and services for children through senior citizens expanded. LLCC was one of the first colleges in the nation to be recognized for its coordinated energy conservation program that began in 1975, and in 1978, Dr. Poorman announced a change in summer work hours to conserve energy, which continues today. In 1980, he welcomed President Jimmy Carter to campus to deliver a major address on energy conservation.
At the time of his retirement, Dr. Poorman held the state record as the longest, actively serving community college president in Illinois. He was described at his retirement as a “forward-looking leader and innovator in creating the college and encouraging everyone to think ahead and plan.” He demonstrated a “philosophy of caring and a commitment to his community and family clearly reflected by his actions.”
Dr. Poorman’s legacy lives on at LLCC. The main road through the LLCC campus is named Robert Poorman Drive in his honor. Also, flags at LLCC will fly at half-staff through Tuesday, April 11.
