May 04, 2023 11:30 AM
Doug Elam
Cedar Rapids Community Orchestra

Doug moved from the Washington, DC area to Cedar Rapids with his family in 1999. He joined the Kirkwood Environmental Training Center where he managed the development of a series of online courses. (Who would have thought, online education 20 years ago?) While in that role he shared the stage with such heavy hitters as MIT, Cornell and DeVry Universities. He became the ‘poster child’ for distance learning while speaking at the League for Innovation in the Community College conferences.

 

After retiring from Kirkwood, Doug and long-time high school orchestra director Marty Clancey formed the CRCO. He also volunteers with the Salvation Army, HACAP, the Monarch Research Project, and as Reading Coach for kindergarteners and first graders, when he is not writing his book about Iowa’s Poor Farm Cemeteries. On top of all this, he is currently employed in the best job in the world: as ‘Papa’ to his six year old granddaughter, Clementine.