Ivy Tech Kokomo taps campus, industry leader Tanya Foutch for honorary degree

As the Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Service Area recently celebrated commencement, the College recognized Stellantis engineer and long-time Ivy Tech volunteer leader Tanya Foutch with the honorary degree Associate of Science in College and Community Service.

Dr. Ethan Heicher, chancellor of the Ivy Tech Kokomo Service Area, cited Foutch’s years of contributions to Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area as well as her deep commitment to fostering the next generation of industry leadership.

“Tanya has always been a highly engaged individual who wants the best for our students and our community,” Heicher said. “In all the many interactions I’ve had with her – from pursuing partnerships for the College in her role at Stellantis to her service as both a Kokomo Campus and State Ivy Tech trustee to her work raising awareness of careers in STEM – she has put opportunities for our students at the forefront of everything she does.”

Foutch has served the Kokomo Campus as both a Campus Board of Trustees member and as the service area’s representative to Ivy Tech’s State Board of Trustees. Her leadership as a local and state trustee has spanned the Kokomo Campus’s $43 million renovation as well as the recent EV Battery Plant standup, both projects that have transformed Ivy Tech’s position in the Kokomo Service Area.

An engineering leader at Stellantis for 30 years, Foutch has worked with Ivy Tech to nurture the engineers, scientists and mathematicians of tomorrow, supporting middle school and high school STEM awareness campaigns, young women in STEM camps, and STEM educational pathways. Partnering with ivy Tech Kokomo’s School of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, and Applied Sciences, Foust has for years been integral in presenting successful summer camps that have impacted hundreds of students.

Foutch earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1995 and a Master of Business Administration from Anderson University in 2000.

The honorary Associate of Science in College and Community Service degree is just the latest recognition for a lifetime of service and contributions. In 2019, Foutch was honored with the Black Engineer of the Year Gerald Johnson Legacy Award recognizing “high merit, impact on people and value to the community and society.” In 2020, she received the Kokomo/Howard County Business Person of the Year Award from the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance for her service to her community. She has three young adult children who she hopes will pursue careers in STEM fields.