Duane Shaw

When Duane Shaw reflects on his time at KCKCC, he remembers all the advancements the college made - from the campus starting downtown to moving to its current location. He correlates one simple step in how he became an employee.

“I was teaching at one of the junior high schools here in town and later started teaching part-time at the community college,” Shaw said. “When they built the new campus, I was recruited by two or three of the board members to apply for the athletic director job. I took a pay cut to move and could see that it was going to be better in the future and more chance for advancement.”

Shaw is a graduate of Kansas State University and was an athlete for the Wildcats’ men’s basketball team. He was a part of the nationally ranked squad as a freshman in 1957, under legendary head coach Tex Winter. He earned both a bachelor of science and a master’s degree from the university before beginning his education career at Central Junior High School where he taught health, physical education and driver’s education.

Shaw moved to KCKCC in 1972 and served as director of athletics for 15 years. During his time at the college, he increased the number of coaches, athletes and scholarships; started the college’s first Academic Challenge team and Teacher-Staff Appreciation Day; conducted numerous new student orientation programs, blood drives and student activities workshops; served on conference and regional committees and led the effort to improve athletic facilities at the college. He served as the sponsor for both Student Senate and Phi Theta Kappa and also received the KCKCC Outstanding Staff Service Award, Career Education Award and the Phi Theta Kappa Distinguished Service Award.  

“The faculty and the workers were very close,” Shaw said.

Besides his work with KCKCC, Shaw is also a well-known and widely respected basketball official and umpire for baseball and softball. His career spanned 40 years and included umpiring baseball from Pee Wee and Little League to Major League Baseball. In fact, when you walk inside Shaw’s home, there is a photo of Shaw calling a strike on Kansas City Royals’ Hall of Famer George Brett.

“Umpiring was just part of my involvement with athletics,” he said.

Even after Shaw retired, he has not stepped away from athletics completely. He has a variety of trophies and awards at home from his time competing in the Senior Olympic Games. For 15 years, Shaw competed in 155 Senior Games at 30 different locations in 12 states. In total, he won 565 gold medals, 352 silver medals and 200 bronze medals.

But no matter where his career has taken him, he always comes back to the importance schools like KCKCC have in the community.

“I think it (KCKCC) gives a lot of students an opportunity to perhaps stay a little closer to home,” Shaw said. “KCKCC was such an enjoyable part of my life. I don’t know of any other job that I would rather have had than my years that I spent at the community college.”