Ford, originally of Minersville and now resides in Mechanicsburg, retired this year as vice president for special projects and educational outreach after numerous positions including his original post as senior professor of chemistry and physical science; director of admissions and records; division counselor for the math, science and engineering division; division chairman of the science, nursing, allied health and physical education; and vice president for instruction and educational services. Ford holds a bachelor's degree from Kings College and master's degree from Shippensburg University.
Regarding his position as dean of math, science and allied health for 22 years, "my title changed several times - division chairman, assistant dean, dean - the job description changed, but not the job," said Ford, who created most of the healthcare programs the college offers today.
HACC President Edna V. Baehre praises Ford as "an exemplary representative of HACC for over 40 years, showing his loyalty to the college not only as an employee, but also as a person committed to the community college mission.
"He was a great advocate for faculty, staff and the college as a whole. He was a mentor to many, and his institutional memory of all the things that occurred during that time was invaluable to many of us.
"He was always willing to listen to someone and give them professional advice. On more than one occasion, John would help someone obtain medical care or at least give them advice on where to seek the healthcare needed with a problem. John Ford was known as Mr. MSAH around campus, or as the Granddaddy of the college," said Baehre.
Ford also was instrumental in developing the expansion of HACC campuses into the Lancaster, Lebanon, Gettysburg and most recently York areas.
"HACC's contribution to those underserved communities is probably the greatest legacy, and I was always first in line to play a part in the development of new programs," said Ford.
"I felt there was a need to do that since the community colleges did not develop according to the initial plan that was developed in 1963. That had provided for a much more extensive plan for community colleges, and I believe only 14 of the 37 planned for the state actually developed.
"It was interesting to me to have an opportunity to help develop some of those new sites and work closely with the new people, try to develop curriculum that would be appropriate in the new service areas, and expand the healthcare programs into areas that are underserved," said Ford, who also helped design most all of the labs at the new campuses.
Long-time HACC colleague Mike Dockery, senior professor, English, says, "John was always focused on HACC, and in many, many instances, this came down to the people. John worked at treating everyone well, and because of his attitude, the parts of the college he touched prospered."
Ford hadn't taught for a number of years but says he was happy to have the opportunity to teach a section this last spring. "It was good for me to do, and I didn't find the students much different. They looked a lot younger," he said with a laugh, "but the adult students were very inquisitive as they were in my earlier years, hungry for knowledge."
Ford credits the faculty at HACC as the key to its success. "The obvious strength of the community college in general and ours in particular is the strength of the faculty," he says. "They are dedicated, willing to give more, not just in their discipline, but willing to advise students, get involved with students when extra help is needed - and as a result of that, our students have been successful."
According to Ford, an annual survey indicates faculty as the number one characteristic that makes people satisfied with HACC. "If we continue to seek dedicated faculty who are committed to the students, our legacy for being successful will continue on infinitum. There has never been a significant turnover of faculty here. There's a loyalty that faculty have, and I hope we don't lose that.
"If you look at our ranks - we have faculty that have been here 25, 30 years - and many will tell you they didn't plan to stay here, that they planned to use HACC as a stepping stone. But this has always been a great place to work, and there's a great deal of satisfaction teaching community college students.
"Many of these students have double lives and achieve their goals over 10 years or six years instead of four. We see recycled students, too, perhaps not making it the first time or having to leave but coming back again to become star students."
Today, says Ford, HACC sees former graduates coming back for retraining. As the marketplace changes, they see the need for new things, teachers with master's degrees coming back to pursue healthcare careers, for example. "That's the beauty, the success of community colleges across the country," he says.
Ford recalls the very first days of HACC, when it was fairly unstructured and the division of labor was much less defined. "We all did things to make the institution work, and that also created a family among us.
"It was not unusual for us to be putting together tables and desks. I advised students, helped register students, helped run the bookstore," said Ford who also started an intramural softball league for students, formed a Veterans group, and supervised the early beginnings of informal fraternities.
"There was a pioneering attitude among the staff and faculty here. We wanted it to work even though we didn't know how it would work out. We were the first community college in Pennsylvania and had no significant guidance - we were not a four-year institution, not a high school, but something in-between.
"We had to figure out where we were in that mix. We were all academicians in that original group of 13 faculty, coming to a college environment with a set of standards that we believed higher education was all about," said Ford.
He speaks of one of the dynamics then that remains as one of HACC's strengths today. Not all students were ready for the college level courses, and within a matter of several hours on one afternoon, faculty developed the first preparatory math class and others followed.
"HACC had and still has an open door policy, but Pennsylvania and we as a group really didn't understand what that meant. It meant we were going to take students from where they were and prepare them to be college students," said Ford. "We had to develop the courses, establish what criteria was necessary for students to be successful, even if not a college course at that point.
"That became the birth of HACC's developmental program - pick people up, make them qualified to help them handle an academic program. We had to make sure our students could complete their education if they wanted to transfer to four-year institutions, because there was no track record for this new community college in Pennsylvania. Our students became our ambassadors, and HACC had to develop acceptability among the transfer schools."
Today HACC is viewed as one of the premier community colleges in the nation. It is fully accredited and well respected as an educational institution with more than 40 formal transfer agreements with four-year schools. Ford also helped develop Pennsylvania's first community college, two-year nursing program.
Today HACC is the second largest educator of nurses in the Commonwealth, and with 27 different healthcare programs, is the largest local provider of healthcare training and education.
"I'm very proud of the development of the allied healthcare programs," said Ford. "That's the highlight of my career and where I became an expert. Even though I had other positions, that has always been my heart."