Grays Harbor College welding instructor Rod McDonald has been named Image of Welding Educator for 2011 by the American Welding Society. The national award will be presented this month during the origination’s annual welding conference in Chicago.

In nominating McDonald for the award, Mike Kelly, Dean for workforce education, said: “Rod is one of the best welders I have ever seen and he is also one of the best teachers I have ever met. This is an extremely rare combination and he certainly is an excellent role model to promote the image of welding.”

The college’s sole full time welding instructor, McDonald, 45, an Elma resident, joined the college staff in 2000. Since that time, he has redesigned the curriculum to better meet industry standards, assisted in the design and construction of the colleges welding instructional facility which opened in 2008, and became a tenured facility member, said Jane Goldberg, college spokesperson.

Also during his 11 years at the college, he received a Faculty Excellence Award as selected by his colleagues and earned an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Washington Association of Occupational Educators. He has served as the chair of the colleges Industrial Technology Division since 2003, in addition to his regular teaching assignment.

The American Welding Society awards Image of Welding recognition in seven categories to individuals and organizations showing exemplary dedication to the promotion of welding within their communities.

˜The Daily World˜