Featured Photo: 1) Left to right: Jay Kirby, president and CEO of UNC Health Pardee; Chip Gould, chairman of the Blue Ridge Community College Board of Trustees; and Dr. Laura B. Leatherwood, president of Blue Ridge Community College. (Photo by Benjamin Rickert, Blue Ridge Community College)
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HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. – Mr. Chip Gould, chairman of the Blue Ridge Community College Board of Trustees, received a standing ovation Monday evening as he accepted a prestigious award from the North Carolina Office of the Governor. For his exemplary contribution to the community through volunteer service, Mr. Gould received the Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service at the May 8 regular meeting of the College’s Board of Trustees.
Gould was nominated for the award by both Blue Ridge Community College and UNC Health Pardee. Dr. Laura Leatherwood, president of Blue Ridge Community College, and Jay Kirby, president and CEO of UNC Health Pardee, presented the award on behalf of the Office of the Governor.
Board of Trustees Chairman Chip Gould receives a standing ovation on May 8, 2023, at Blue Ridge Community College.
“We cannot think of a more deserving person to receive this recognition,” said Dr. Leatherwood during the meeting.
Gould received a framed certificate signed by Governor Roy Cooper. It read, “This is to certify that Chip Gould is hereby awarded the highest designation of appreciation for distinguished volunteer service to the People and the State of North Carolina, and is to be granted and extended all honors and courtesies provided by this Office, entitled thereunto by this certificate of recognition and appreciation.”
“Chip has given countless hours of his time and talents to the organizations that he serves, and we are all the better for it,” said Kirby. “This recognition is well deserved.”
Gould has served with Blue Ridge’s Board of Trustees since 2007, and he has held numerous community leadership positions. In addition to leading Blue Ridge’s Board of Trustees, Gould currently serves as:
- Chairman, UNC Health Pardee Board of Trustees
- Board Member, Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation
- Board Member, Pardee Hospital Foundation
- Board Member, Economic Investment Fund of Henderson County
- Board of Directors, First Bank Corp.
Chip Gould formerly served as chair and board member of the Partnership for Economic Development; chairman and board member of the Henderson County Chamber; member of the Hendersonville Planning Board; and board member of the Asheville Savings Bank Board of Directors.
Three outgoing members of Blue Ridge’s Board of Trustees also received honor during Monday’s meeting, including Dr. Jeremy R. Gibbs, vice chairman; Mr. Richard G. “Duke” Woodhull, Jr., board member; and the Board’s ex-officio non-voting member Ms. Brianna Allen, president of Blue Ridge’s Student Government Association.