Norwich - Grace S. Jones, the president of Three Rivers Community College, was honored Friday as the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut's Citizen of the Year.

Jones, whose award was announced during a morning press conference at the college, said she was humbled and honored to be chosen and said she is proud of the work her educational institution does with eastern Connecticut's business community and its work force.

"I love what I do here, and the people I work with," she said.

Three Rivers has numerous career programs that it offers to its students, ranging from nursing and photonics to hospitality management and manufacturing technology.

Jones, who is a past chair of the chamber's board of directors, was named president of the Norwich-based community college in 2001. During her tenure there, she was instrumental in the construction and completion of the college's new campus on New London Turnpike. The state legislature in 2003 approved $75 million for the renovation and consolidation of Three Rivers at its current campus.

The college also has seen its enrollments soar during Jones' presidency. Three Rivers today has about 5,150 full- and part-time students in its credit courses and more than 2,000 registered in noncredit courses.

Tony Sheridan, the regional chamber's president and chief executive officer, said the decision to name Jones was a unanimous choice by the chamber committee overseeing the prestigious annual award. Sheridan said Jones has always found the time to be active in many leading social, civic, business and community organizations in addition to her duties presiding over the growing community college.

"What you've accomplished here is impressive," Sheridan said. "Just look around (at the Norwich campus)," he said to those gathered during the morning press conference honoring the college president.

Bill Turner, an external and legislative affairs executive with AT&T who was last year's annual honoree, said Jones is a "hard act to follow."

"Grace always does the right thing for the betterment of this community," he said.

Angela Arnold, executive director of development for the Diocese of Norwich who chairs the Citizen of the Year chamber committee, said Jones was a natural choice this year. "Grace was the best choice and a very good role model," she said. "Students and young people today need to emulate such good role models."

The Citizen of the Year award was created in 1949 and is presented annually to honor an individual for his or her outstanding contributions to this region's civic and business communities.

Jones will be honored during this year's Citizen of the Year gala on Friday, May 4, at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. For more information about the regional chamber, visit www.chamberect.com or call (860) 701-9113.

a.cronin@theday.com