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The
USI Alumni
Association will honor an administrator, a faculty
member, and two alumni with awards on Saturday, May 10,
at the Graduation Celebration Reception and Dinner.
Award recipients are Dr.
M. Edward Jones, Special Recognition
Award; Dr. Jeanne K. Barnett, Faculty
Recognition Award; Jamie L. Wicks ’91, M ’97,
Alumni Service Award; and Wayne S. Trockman ‘81,
Distinguished Alumni Award. All are residents of
Evansville.
Jones
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Special
Recognition Award
Dr. M. Edward Jones, associate vice
president for
Academic
Affairs and dean of
Extended
Services, has been at the center of the
University’s development since he joined USI in
1974 as founding director of Continuing
Education. Serving 202 people taking noncredit
courses in its initial year, Extended Services
is a comprehensive regional engagement division
today that provides programming for more than
15,000 Tri-state residents annually.
Jones has supplied the vision
that fit perfectly with the USI mission of
outreach and service to the region. Under his
leadership, the following operating units in
Extended Services have been developed: the
Bachelor of General Studies Adult Degree
Completion Program; Centers for Applied
Research, Human Resource Development, Education
Services; Continuing Education; Service
Learning; Historic New Harmony; Historic
Southern Indiana, Southern Indiana Japanese
School; and Instructional Technology
Services/Distance Education. |
Partnering with a variety of community
organizations and groups to promote regional economic
and workforce development, Jones provides resources to
the Growth Alliance of Greater Evansville (GAGE),
Innovation Pointe, Metropolitan Evansville Chamber of
Commerce, The Southwest Indiana WIRED District, the
Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana, and
WorkOne.
In recognition of his outstanding
contributions to Continuing Education at USI and at the
state and national levels, Jones received the
prestigious University Continuing Education Association
Walton Bittner Citation for Outstanding Service in 2000.
Barnett
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Faculty
Recognition Award
Dr. Jeanne K. Barnett,
professor of
biology, is a dedicated educator whose
caring personality, combined with her expertise
as a teacher and advisor, have gained her the
enduring respect of her students and colleagues.
Since she joined USI in 1989, Barnett has been
instrumental in teaching and advising students
in the areas of pre-medicine, immunology, and
virology. In addition to her teaching and
advising responsibilities, since 1990 she has
been a coordinator for the successful
Presidential Scholarship Program. Attracting
and assisting Indiana’s brightest students, she
encourages these valedictorians and
salutatorians to become academic pacesetters at
USI. Barnett has been instrumental in mentoring
the over 200 Presidential Scholars who have
earned baccalaureate degrees. |
Barnett also oversees the
Baccalaureate/Doctor of Medicine Scholarship program
implemented in 2000. To increase the number of
physicians providing medical services in southern
Indiana, six pre-medicine students are selected each
year to receive full-tuition waivers to complete
undergraduate work at USI and graduate coursework at the
Indiana University School of Medicine.
Barnett holds a Ph.D. in microbiology
(molecular virology) from Duke University Medical
Center. Over the past 35 years, she has co-written many
research papers published in national science journals
and has presented numerous papers at professional
meetings. Barnett is an engaging professor who
integrates the results of her research into the
classroom creating enhanced learning and enthusiasm
among USI students.
Wicks
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Alumni Service
Award
Jamie L. Wicks ’91, M ‘97
personifies the Alumni Association’s mission to
serve and develop a committed body of alumni
dedicated to promoting and enhancing the
excellence and reputation of the University.
Wicks, 1991
business administration and 1997
Master of Business Administration graduate,
served as president of the USI Alumni
Association 2004-05 and Alumni Council member
from 2000-06. A member of the USI Foundation
Board from 2004-06, she is past chair of the
Alumni Annual Fund Campaign, and a Phonathon
volunteer. Additionally she has provided
leadership to Alumni special events, Alumni
Benefits & Services Committee, Alumni Travel
Committee, and Advocates for Higher Education.
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She is the immediate past president of
the Junior League of Evansville, board member of ANEW,
Evansville Estate and Financial Planning Council, and
the Museum Guild, as well as volunteering for her
church, the Komen Foundation, Habitat for Humanity,
United Way, Girl Scouts, and Junior Achievement.
One of USI’s most ardent cheerleaders
and volunteers, Wicks continuously spreads the word of
USI and its academic programs to the community and area
students. Wicks is assistant vice president, trust
officer at Fifth Third Bank.
Trockman
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Distinguished
Alumni Award
Conferral of the Distinguished Alumni Award
provides recognition to a graduate who has made
outstanding achievements in career or in public
service. This year’s recipient, the Honorable
Wayne S. Trockman ’81, has
distinguished himself as an innovator of court
programs.
Trockman, a 1981 management
graduate, was appointed to the Vanderburgh
Superior Court bench in December 1998 by
Governor Frank O’Bannon. He was elected to a
six-year term in 2001 and was re-elected for
another term in 2007. Trockman served as chief
judge of Vanderburgh Superior Court from
2003-08. |
In 2001, Trockman organized and
implemented the first drug treatment court in
Vanderburgh County. The court serves as an intensive
sentencing alternative for non-violent felony drug
offenders who have committed crimes in the county. The
program has been made successful in part by creative
funding efforts by Judge Trockman. A non-profit
foundation was established to seek private community
support for the program, along with various state and
federal grants.
Trockman is chairman of the Indiana
Judicial Center Court Administered Drug Program
Committee, serving as chair of the Drug Court
Sub-Committee. He is also a member of the board of
Governors of the Indiana Judicial Center and remains
active in the Evansville Bar Association. Trockman has
received numerous awards including a 2004 Jefferson
Award for Public Service from the American Institute for
Public Service.
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