Jackie Schillig taught at Suffolk Community College on Long Island, New York for 21 years before joining the faculty at NVCC in 1996. She moved to Virginia because she wanted to teach a more multi-cultural, diverse student population. Ms. Schillig grew up on Long Island, close to New York City, and spent much of her time in Manhattan taking advantage of the many events that the city had to offer. She has a BA in both English and Speech Communication and an MA in Speech Communication from C.W. Post College of Long Island University. She started teaching in graduate school with a teaching assistantship and knew that she found her career calling. She has also completed extensive post-graduate work at New York University in her field of expertise.

Ms. Schillig coached students on the Forensic Team while in New York. Students competed with other colleges and universities in individual events such as informative and persuasive speaking, impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, and oral interpretation of literature. She enjoyed the one-on-one work with students who won more than 120 awards during her time as coach of the team. She has developed an interpersonal communication course designed for students at NVCC and teaches two sections a semester.

Jackie, as she is known by many of her students, also worked as the speechwriter and personal coach to the Suffolk County Executive on Long Island during a leave of absence from her college in NY. Since the County Executive position is the highest political position on Long Island, she wrote many speeches for presentation on occasions of great diversity, from Senate sub-committee hearings to campaign rallies.

Ms. Schillig has served as a consultant to small businesses, corporations, law enforcement agencies and health agencies. She has conducted workshops and seminars in a variety of topics covering interpersonal communication, group and leadership techniques, and public speaking. Her past audiences include Medtronic Corporation (a Fortune 500 health company), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (working with pediatric nurses on response skills), Allstate Insurance Company, Suffolk County Police Academy and Sheriff's Dept., the NY-NJ Port Authority, financial institutions, nursing associations, secretarial associations, and many others professional organizations.

Ms. Schillig is also a successful licensed Realtor. She works with Weichert Realtors out of Weichert's Arlington office. She buys and sells real estate for her clients in all of Northern Virginia utilizing her communication skills in a second career. Her consulting and real estate work have enabled her to bring her own professional real life experiences to the classroom.

On a personal note, Ms. Schillig played competitive tennis and was ranked #12 nationally in the women's 50s singles category of the United States Tennis Association in 2002. She was also the #1 ranked player in the women's 50s singles category in the Mid-Atlantic Section of the USTA.

Last Updated on January 12, 2007.