Rodney Wilson has been announced as the recipient of this year’s Michael Shinagel Award for Service to Others, presented by the Harvard University Extension School, from which Wilson graduated with a Master of Liberal Arts (ALM), emphasis religion, in 2012. The award’s namesake, Michael Shinagel, was born in Austria in 1934. After the 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, with the Jewish community at grave risk, the Shinagel family left Austria, seeking refuge in various European nations and in Britain before arriving in New York in 1941. Shinagel was educated through secondary school in New York, served in the U.S. Army in the early 1950s, and subsequently earned an undergraduate degree at Oberlin College and, in 1964, a doctorate at Harvard University. He served as Harvard’s dean of the Division of Continuing Education from 1977 until his retirement in 2013, giving him the distinction of being the longest-serving dean in Harvard’s nearly 400-year history. The Shinagel Award, founded to mark Dean Shinagel’s retirement, is given annually to a Harvard Extension School (HES) graduate who, according to award guidelines, “has dedicated at least ten years in service to others, with special consideration given to efforts at the grassroots level that illustrate the broad impact that a single individual can have by inspiring social change.” The HES Alumni Association announced that Wilson was being honored with the award for his pioneering work in LGBTQ rights, particularly as an educator: “The committee was particularly impressed by the bravery you have demonstrated in your 35 years as an educator. You have not only provided your students a retrospective look into our world's history, but you have also prospectively shaped history by being the first to recognize and celebrate LGBTQ+ Month.” LGBTQ+ History Month, founded by Wilson in 1994, is now celebrated in two dozen locations around the world. Born in Bonne Terre, Missouri, Wilson attended nearby Potosi schools for all of K-12, graduating in 1983. He holds Associate of Arts (Mineral Area College), Bachelor of Science in Secondary Social Studies Education (Southeast Missouri State University), Master of Arts (University of Missouri-St. Louis), and Master of Liberal Arts (HES) degrees. Wilson has been an educator since 1990 – teaching secondary social studies in St. Louis; English to Spanish speakers, GED education for 17-21-year-old inmates at a county house of correction, and managing an evening education program for adults at a community college – all in Massachusetts. Employed at Mineral Area College in Park Hills since 2011, he currently teaches American History and Comparative Religion; coordinates the History and Political Science Department; and is project lead of the MAC Museum of College and Community History.