2002 Distinguished
Alumni ~ T.M. Sell
Dr. T. M. Sell, a Highline Community College
instructor and 1978 graduate, has been named the recipient of the
college’s 2002 Distinguished Alumni Award. Started in 1990, the
award honors former Highline students who are making outstanding
contributions in their chosen fields of endeavor. Former Seattle
Mayor Norm Rice, who attended Highline in 1968–69, was the first
recipient of the award in 1990.
Sell is a nationally recognized author and award-winning journalist,
who spent nearly 20 years on the staff of various Northwest
newspapers. He began teaching at Highline as a part-time political
science/journalism instructor in 1986 and moved to full time in
1996. He was granted tenure in 2001.
Since 1996, Sell has served as the advisor of the Thunderword,
Highline’s student-run campus newspaper, which has won numerous
awards under his tutelage. He helped guide the paper to weekly
instead of monthly production and tripled enrollment in the program.
Graduates are now beginning to work at newspapers and public
relations agencies around the Northwest.
While a student at Highline, he himself was a Thunderword staffer
and editor as well as national president of Phi Theta Kappa, the
international honor society for two-year colleges, in 1977–78.
Recognized as an expert on The Boeing Company, he has appeared as an
analyst on local and national television networks to discuss the
company as the result of his 2001 book, “Wings of Power: Boeing and
the Politics of Growth in the Northwest.” He is at work on a book
about deregulation and electric power. He is a playwright and
founder of Breeders Theater, a successful local professional theater
company. He frequently donates his talent to help fund causes on
Highline’s campus.
Learn More About
Last updated:
May 10, 2010
|
