Photograph by Maureen Neuringer
Honoring Dean J As Dean Sonja Jackson, our “Dean J,” prepares to retire, it is fitting that Nucleus, the journal of the Faculty Commons, should honor her, for Sonja’s vision and persistence inspired the creation of the Faculty Commons.
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onja Jackson has played many roles at City Tech—a student, a faculty member, a program director, a department chair, a dean. She has carried out each of these with intelligence, humor, commitment, and compassion. Her list of accomplishments is long. As much as what she has done, however, Sonja has contributed even more to City Tech by who she is. Her vision of education is both rich and multifaceted. As a graduate, and later professor and department chair of City Tech’s Radiologic Technology program, she understands the impetus that draws students to the College’s career programs. But her vision of education also embraces the liberal and creative arts. She wants City Tech students to have an education comparable in both rigor and in delight to that offered at any college in the country. Dean Jackson’s deep interest in students is sincere and unwavering. She has mentored and advised innumerable students, enabling them to find and develop their best selves. While she is always supportive, however, her support does not always consist of uncritical encouragement. She offers practical advice and down-to-earth counsel. When the situation calls for it, she can be candid, forceful, and direct. At the same time, Sonja has been a greatly respected and much appreciated mentor to dozens of faculty members. There is a well-trodden path in the carpet between the front door of the Office of the Provost and Sonja’s office. It has been a privilege to work with Sonja these past seven years. She is a principled person who truly lives according to her principles. I think, though, that what I respect most about Sonja is her determination—and her incredible ability—to engage people in what she might term “difficult conversations.” For years she brought together a diverse group of faculty and staff regularly to share challenging readings and probe—candidly Sonja Jackson but collegially—questions that people often shy away from, questions of race, gender, identity, and conflict. The participants in those conversations have maintained a bond with Sonja and with one another. They have walked miles in one another’s shoes. They have become colleagues in much more than superficial ways, and they form a crucial center for so much that has happened at the college in the past decade. We wish Sonja many years filled not only with the many projects and interests that are close to her heart, but also with new adventures and joys. Sonja Jackson has created many things during her time at City Tech, but for her it is always about the people. She leaves us, therefore, not with a gap but with a legacy. We at City Tech are committed to nurturing that legacy as our best tribute to a much-loved colleague.
Bonne August, Provost
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June 2012
Nucleus: A Faculty Commons Quarterly Volume 3 – Issue 4