JOHNSON CITY — The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) awarded its highest honor to Dr. Wilsie Bishop, senior vice president for academics and interim provost at East Tennessee State University.

Bishop received the James T. Rogers Distinguished Leadership Award at SACSCOC’s annual conference yesterday in Houston. SACSCOC is the regional accrediting body for more than 800 colleges and universities in 11 southern states.

The James T. Rogers Distinguished Leadership Award, which is reserved for “extraordinarily distinctive and effective leadership,” is named for the former director who served SACSCOC for more than two decades.

“Dr. Bishop’s leadership and commitment to higher education extend beyond the important work she has done throughout her career at ETSU,” said ETSU President Brian Noland. “She has made an impact on higher education at institutions throughout the country, and she is extremely deserving of this important recognition from her peers.”

At last year’s SACSCOC conference, Bishop earned the Demetria N. Gibbs Outstanding Chair Award for her work as a site reviewer since 1982. She has served on 42 review teams, including 28 as chair.

Through her work with SACSCOC, Bishop has served on committees that developed and later revised the Principles of Accreditation and the Resource Manual. She has served as a member of the board of trustees, chaired the Peer Review Advisory Committee to the SACSCOC president, and acted as a special reader for the Compliance and Reports Committee of the SACSCOC.

“I am honored to be selected for this recognition, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with many outstanding individuals and institutions across the South to assure quality education and learning experiences for our students,” Bishop said.

Bishop began her career at ETSU in 1978 and has held numerous leadership positions. She served as dean of ETSU’s College of Public and Allied Health. She was also a key leader in laying the groundwork for that college’s evolution into two colleges: the College of Public Health and the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences.

Before being named to her current role which oversees all academic programs at ETSU, Bishop served as vice president for health affairs, overseeing ETSU’s health sciences colleges, including Quillen College of Medicine, Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, College of Public Health, and College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences.

Earlier this year, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness appointed her to the Defense Health Board Public Health Subcommittee.

Bishop earned a bachelor of science in nursing and a master of science in nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University. She later earned a second master’s degree and a doctorate from the University of Southern California.

To learn more about ETSU, visit www.etsu.edu.