Ambassador David H. Shinn’s story begins long before the diplomatic titles and foreign service honors. Before the famines he helped respond to in Sudan, the peacekeeping efforts he supported across Africa, or his decades-long role as a professor of international affairs at George Washington University, he was a community college student walking the halls of Yakima Valley College — and a proud Phi Theta Kappa member.
Shinn joined PTK during his sophomore year, not yet knowing just how far his journey would take him. What he did know was that PTK offered something invaluable: direction. “Phi Theta Kappa offers an enormous amount of guidance for all categories of community college students and a range of scholarships for those who are continuing with their education,” he said. He remembers the practical tools — employment preparation courses, leadership development, research skills — but also the confidence-building that came from being surrounded by motivated peers.
Years later, after earning his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at George Washington University and beginning what would become a 37-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Shinn was named one of Phi Theta Kappa’s Most Distinguished Alumni in 1995. In 2007, he returned to his roots in service by joining the Phi Theta Kappa Board of Trustees, where he served for more than a decade.
That board role, he says, became one of the most eye-opening chapters of his connection to PTK. He gained a deep appreciation for the sheer diversity and determination of community college students — many of whom were the first in their families to attend college. Through PTK, he saw firsthand just how transformative community colleges could be. “I gained an appreciation for the different emphases that community colleges place on education,” he said. “Some have an academic focus, some vocational and some adult education. Others do all three. But they all offer a two-year degree and a low-cost option to complete the first two years of a four-year degree, which was my reason for attending YVC.”
His career would take him across continents — Lebanon, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania, Cameroon, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia — and earn him three State Department Superior Honor awards. But through every chapter, he carried with him the values he found early on in PTK: service, leadership, scholarship, and the belief that education should be accessible to all.
For Shinn, Phi Theta Kappa was not just a college honor — it was a launchpad.
About Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa is the first honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 4.4 million members and nearly 1,250 chapters in 11 countries, with approximately 220,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.
