AJ
Amber Jackson
  • Class of 2012
  • Kansas City, KS

Amber Jackson Honored at University of Kansas, Featured as 2011-12 Woman of Distinction

2011 Sep 19

Amber Jackson of Kansas City, Kan. is among 25 women honored for their distinguished achievements on the 2011-12 KU Women of Distinction calendar.

Jackson is featured on the calendar in the Leading for Change. Jackson is a senior studying journalism with an emphasis in strategic communications. She received the American Advertising Federation of Kansas City Scholarship, president of Black Student Union from 2010-2011 and an Alpha Kappa Alpha Membership Chair. She is the daughter of April Jackson and Mack Jackson. Jackson is a graduate of Piper High School in Kansas City.

Two students were recognized for individual achievements and 14 more are recognized for group accomplishments as student leaders, community organizers, involved engineers and graduate students for social advocacy.

The women represent faculty, staff and students. Some are recent graduates. All have distinguished achievements in their work on campus and in communities locally, regionally and abroad.

Five following faculty member selected this year are:

Dr. Lorraine Haricombe is the dean of libraries and Provost's Designate for Open Access Implementation. As a single parent, she raised two accomplished daughters. She earned her master's and doctorate in library and information science from 1986-1992. Dr. Haricombe is in the Individual Shot calendar group.

Yo Jackson is an associate professor in the clinical child psychology program, the department of psychology and the department of applied behavioral science. She received the National Institutes of Health RO1 Grant in 2009, Diplomat in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology in 2008, American Board of Professional Psychology in 2008 and received the Kemper Teaching Award in 2004. Jackson is in the Individual Shot calendar group.

Prof. Alice Lieberman is a professor and BSW program director for the school of social welfare. She is the co-principal investigator for the Generations Project for 2010-2015, the principal investigator for Kansas Workforce Initiative for 2008-2013 and part of the Kansas Safe and Stable Families Project for 2006-2011. Prof. Lieberman is in the Individual Shot calendar group.

Tami Albin is a KU librarian for undergraduate instruction and outreach and women, gender and sexuality studies. She received the Mary McCorison Rosenbloom Teaching Award in 2009, director of "Under the Rainbow: Oral Histories of GLBTIQ People in Kansas" and received the "Outstanding Women's Studies Bibliographer 2002-2006" Award in 2007. Tami Albin is in the Breaking Barriers for LGBT Equity calendar group.

Dr. Lori Messinger is the director for the school of social welfare. She was the associate professor of KU school of social welfare from 2004-2011, worked with Kansas Equality Coalition to establish a domestic partner registry in Lawrence, the founding director of the KU Lambda Council and received the Distinguished Contemporary Contribution to Baccalaureate Social Work Education Award from the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors in 2006. She has a previous degree from University of North Carolina in Wilmington. Dr. Messinger is in the Breaking Barriers for LGBT Equity calendar group.

The following are staff members featured this year:

Mary Burg is an executive assistant to the Chancellor in the Office of the Chancellor. She's worked as an executive assistant to the Chancellor since 1996, was a member of the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center Advisory Board since 2004 and a member of Community Cooperation Committee from 2007-2011. Burg is in the Outstanding Administrators Who Make a Difference calendar group.

Deb Teeter is an university director in the Office of Institutional Research and Planning. She was awarded Distinguished Membership by the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) for significant and substantial contributions to the field in 2006, Outstanding Service Award from the Association of American Universities Data Exchange in 2007 and AIR Outstanding Service Award for service to the organization as president, forum chair and local arrangements chair in 1992. Teeter is in the Outstanding Administrators Who Make a Difference calendar group.

KU alumna Amy Linnen, who will be inducted in the KU Athletics Hall of Fame this fall for her contributions as KU women's pole vault record holder, is also featured. She is a teacher of physical education and a coach at Mt. Sinai Middle School in Mt. Sinai, N.Y. She was NCAA Collegiate Champion in 2002 and 2005, collegiate record holder in the women's pole vault since 2002 and named KU Female Jayhawk of the Year in 2005. She received her B.G.S. in communication studies at KU in 2007. Linnen is in the Individual Shot calendar group.

Calendars are free, although donations are accepted. They are available at numerous locations, including the KU Bookstores in the Kansas Union in Lawrence and at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., and the Edwards Campus in Overland Park. Other Lawrence campus locations include the Student Involvement and Leadership Center in the Kansas Union, on-campus housing facilities and various university departments.