At their Jan. 19 meeting, Southwestern Michigan College trustees unanimously elected Thomas F. Jerdon as chairman of the board, replacing founding Chairman Dr. Fred L. Mathews, who resigned after a half-century of service.

Jerdon has himself served as an SMC trustee for nearly a quarter-century since joining the board in 1991. He has served as treasurer since 2003. He also serves as one of SMC’s delegates to the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) Board of Directors.

Thomas Jerdon

Jerdon is a 1982 Dowagiac Union High School honors graduate. He graduated from SMC in 1984 as a member of Phi Theta Kappa (the national honor society for two-year colleges). He graduated from Grand Valley State University in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the school’s Seidman College of Business.

He is vice president of Jerdon Real Estate in Silver Creek Township. He is the third generation in the family-owned firm established in 1950 by his grandfather, the late Floyd Jerdon Sr. The company specializes in marketing and selling lake and farm properties in the region for 65 years, making it the oldest area real estate firm.

Jerdon received his Michigan real estate license in 1982, his real estate broker’s license in 1984 and was a licensed real estate appraiser for 15 years. As a real-estate developer, Jerdon in 1997 created Villamere Condominiums, a single-family residential development containing 23 villa homes of which he is past manager and board member.

Jerdon has served on the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Chemical Bank Board of Directors, the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council Board of Directors and as Indian Lake Dredge Project treasurer and chaired a committee for Dowagiac’s Downtown Development Authority.

He is also a Director of the Southwestern Michigan College Foundation, the 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in 1971 to provide scholarships and other support for SMC students and the College. He was also the first chairman of the Dowagiac Dogwood Fine Arts Festival. In recognition of his service to the college, SMC named one of its three residence halls, Jerdon Hall, for him in 2013.

He and his wife, Jodi have two daughters, Ella and Anna.

“My admiration for Southwestern Michigan College runs extremely deep as my wife, my two sisters and myself are all SMC graduates,” Jerdon said. “As a result, SMC has produced a career nurse, a teacher, an I.T. engineer and me. Serving SMC and its taxpayers has been the best part of my professional life. SMC is about changing lives for the better and the proof

is everywhere.”

Jerdon stated his top priorities are “continuing to place SMC in the top 10 percent nationally for transfer student success (SMC ranked in the top 6 percent in the most recent National Community College Benchmarking Project report), providing the best academic opportunities for students at an affordable tuition, creating additional articulated agreements with our university partners for additional four-year degrees and expanding state legislation to include a community college bachelor’s degree in nursing.”

“SMC is truly one of the best community colleges in the nation with 50 years of balanced budgets, beautiful and modern facilities, great academics and affordable tuition,” Jerdon said. “The other trustees that I have served with are some of the best people I know. As an alumnus and SMC Foundation board member, SMC has been a part of my life for a long time. My wife and I are glad to give back with my service and with our endowed scholarship. We care deeply for SMC.”