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The 2012 I. E. Ready Award Winner Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. – Durham Tech
Phail Wynn is a natural born leader and he accomplishes
and gets things done because he stays focused on the goal.
But he does it in such a pleasant way where he brings everybody together to make these
things happen.
Before becoming president of Durham Tech, Phail Wynn Jr. learned what it meant to be
a leader during his first command in Vietnam.
And so a helicopter flew me out there and when I got there and
the helicopter hovered and I jumped out of it.
The entire unit of 47 men were all white and I was you know,
not.
I had a group in my unit that were from the deep south
that refused to acknowledge or accept me as their leader.
And they were playing Hank Williams Sr. songs "Your cheating heart" and "Half as much."
I remember it well.
So I just sort of wandered over to where they were grouped drinking beer,
relaxing, and cleaning weapons. And I just started singing along with Hank
on those 2 songs which I knew. They were taken aback by that and asked me,
“How did you know those songs?” I said, “well I grew up in Oklahoma and
that’s what I heard on the radio. And that broke the ice, that common thread
and me showing them that we had some things in common.
Just turned, it created a 180 degree turn in their attitudes and
they became very loyal from that point on.
After the war, Phail turned his sights to education. And In 1980, Durham Tech needed
a president.
We must have had 70 people apply for the job and some very top notch people.
He was approved and we made a good choice.
He was a people person, a charismatic leader. Someone who had no difficulty
talking to anyone in this world.
Phail Wynn could have done literally anything he wanted to do.
He could have been president of IBM, He could have been president of the United
States.
Phail broke new ground as the first African American president and the youngest president
of a community college in North Carolina.
When I became president we had more than 3,000 high paying
cigarette manufacturing jobs in downtown Durham. By 1986 they were gone.
And so when we became aware of this we really had to scramble to work with existing
business to set up opportunities for
retraining for employees.
We were uniquely positioned to do that because only community colleges
are that flexible and that adaptable to be able to help
create programs on that short notice and work that closely
with business and industry and local government to ensure that the transition is smooth.
He has touched the lives of countless individuals. There have been over 18,000 individuals who
have completed a credential of some sort during Phail’s 27 + years as president at
Durham Tech. And those 18,000 individuals have in turn
touched the lives and changed the face of the community in countless ways.
Dr. Wynn has many great qualities but I think one of the qualities that really
sets him apart is that he is able to recognize strengths and potential
in people that often people don’t recognize in themselves.
He required me to push a little harder cause a lot of times
I wouldn’t always apply myself fully and I guess he could see it or whatever,
and he would say did you do your best?
I always looked up to him. I think it’s mainly his poise, how he cares for people.
He just doesn’t do just because he has to do it he really cares.
I looked up to that a whole lot.
Dr. Wynn identified the challenges impacting the community and
he initiated scholarship and mentoring programs to help people achieve their goals.
It’s our role to do all we can to help them achieve those goals.
Find out what those goals are. Find out what those impediments may be in
terms of any socio-economic factors and then provide them the resources
to help them succeed.
Phail, I would like to congratulate you for receiving this award.
I just want to say airborne all the way, sir – you deserve it.
You’re not a Buckeye but you’re good enough to be one.
And in your own words, you done real good.
So to all I would say that you have honored me deeply and for that I and my family are
deeply grateful. Thank you.