Luther R. Medlin, a High Point native,
succeeded Dr. H. F. Marco as the second president of Guilford Technical
Institute. Dr. Medlin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from High Point
College, a Master's degree from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and did additional graduate study there. In 1968 he was awarded
the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities by High Point College.
Dr.
Medlin was employed as a teacher and principal in Gaston County and
the Greensboro school system.
Under Medlin's leadership the college was among
the first of the technical institutes in North Carolina to obtain
full accreditation in 1969. He began a comprehensive program
of reorganization
and expansion of the curriculum and personnel. The college's enrollment
grew from 800 to nearly 3,000 and in faculty/staff size from 29 to
over 200. He drew up a master campus development plan which saw the construction
of several Jamestown campus buildings including Medlin Campus Center,
which was named after him, the Business Careers, Gerrald Hall, Health
Science, Technical Laboratory, and the Learning Resources Center.
He
also established the High Point campus of Guilford Tech and rented
a facility at the regional airport for the beginning aviation program
at
the school.
Dr. Medlin was a member of the GTCC Foundation Board
from 1967 until 1992. To recognize his service to the college, a general
scholarship was named in his honor. He was awarded an Honorary Associate
Arts Degree (the first of its kind) for his services to GTI in 1984.
