Spring 2014 Judson Today

Spring 2014

JUDSON today A Magazine for Friends and Alumni of Judson University

Condoleezza Rice Calls on Judson Students to Shape Their World Shaping the Future with Our New Strategic Plan Judson’s Adult Program Celebrates 20 Years

F R O M T H E D E S K O F A FA C U LT Y M E M B E R

Welcoming the Future with Hope During the Second World War my grandfather served as a merchant marine, guiding Allied freighters through hostile waters under the cover of darkness. Before entering the service his fiancée gave him a token of her affection, a sextant passed down through several generations.

(A sextant measures the angle between any two objects. Applied to celestial navigational, the sextant measures the angle between heavenly bodies and the horizon.) Before the advent of GPS, this angle was critical for calculating one’s position at sea. Although such instruments are obsolete, the information they determine will always be essential.

The entire field of higher education is undergoing a period of unparalleled change. Through internet-based technologies, information has never been more widely available, accessible, and affordable. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are now offered at some of the world’s most prestigious universities, enrolling thousands of students from across the globe for free, if not yet for credit. At the same time, the cost of going to college has never been higher, and economies around the world are still recovering from the financial crisis of 2008. Beyond these challenges, we also face increased government oversight and dramatic social changes.

Ongoing evaluation of both internal and external conditions is necessary for institutions to remain healthy, but what instruments should we use, and by what measures can we determine our position? Further, in order for us to thrive, how can we apply the answer we find to another question: What course should we set? This is the nature of strategic planning.

Under President Jerry Cain, we looked inward, feeling for our institutional bearing. Upon his retirement, Dr. William Crothers assumed the helm as Interim President. With his guidance, we began to look outward, examining the environment in which we operate. Now, with our new President, Dr. Gene C. Crume, we look ahead. Dr. Crume previously held key administrative positions at Western Kentucky University, Midland University, and most recently, Indiana State University, and so brought a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to leading our strategic planning efforts.

Over the past several months our community has discussed the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and what actions we should take as we move forward. The result of these conversations, along with careful analysis by the Strategic Planning Committee, is Judson University’s first comprehensive strategic plan. In the pages that follow, Dr. Crume will describe this achievement. We have already begun working towards the goals and objectives you will find outlined on page 10. Some will be accomplished rather quickly. Others will take more time.

But by diligently and creatively carrying out this plan we will continue to “shape lives to shape the world.”

MOOCs may not prove to be a successful model for higher education, economies will always ebb and flow, and the nature of government and society will change with each successive generation, but our mission at Judson University is not simply to offer an excellent education in this environment. The star we align ourselves to is Jesus Christ. Our efforts are for the advancement of His kingdom. So we welcome the future with hope.

Jeffery Carl Professor of Art

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J U D S O N T O D AY E D I TO R I A L S TA F F EDITOR Mary Dulabaum Director of Communications and Marketing

JUDSON today Spring 2014

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Bethany Suckrow ‘09 Writer/Social Media Manager LAYOUT AND PRODUCTION Celeste Torres Layout and Production Specialist PHOTOGRAPHY Eric Secker Web Projects Specialist

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Student Photographers Jamie Galen ’17 Christina Malik ’16 Allison Shuflin ’14 ALUMNOTES EDITOR Bonnie Bienert Director of Alumni Relations ATHLETICS EDITOR Benjamin Kelly Public Information, Judson Athletics

JUDSON UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP TEAM PRESIDENT Dr. Gene C. Crume, Jr. PROVOST & CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER Dr. Wilbert Friesen

C O V E R

P H O T O

Condoleezza Rice speaks in Herrick Chapel at the fourth annual World Leaders Forum.

F E A T U R E S

VICE PRESIDENT FOR BUSINESS AFFAIRS John Potter

Senior Cassie Criminger Named Judson’s 2013 Lincoln Laureate ........... 5 Cassie Criminger receives state honor at November ceremony.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT SERVICES Nancy Binger ’97

Judson's Adult Program Celebrates 20 Years.. ............................................... 6 From 1994 to 2014, Judson’s adult program has grown into a thriving part of the university.

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT Roger Brimmerman UNIVERSITY REGISTRAR Ginny Guth ‘02/’08 DEAN OF STUDENTS Lisa Jarot ’03 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR Brent Richardson EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT Tena Robotham ’78 Judson Today is published three times a year by the Communications and Marketing Office at Judson University.

Please send address changes and correspondence to Judson Today c/o Advancement Office, 1151 North State St., Elgin, IL 60123 or email jcramer@JudsonU.edu

Shaping the Future with Our New Strategic Plan ...................................... 10 Judson seeks new strategies to fulfill its mission of Christian higher education.

Condoleezza Rice Calls on Judson Students to Shape Their World ......... 12 Judson welcomes former U.S. Secretary of State to campus on March 19.

Three Judson Grads Recognized as Teaching Elite ............................. 20 Judson’s School of Education celebrates three graduates as Milken Award Winners.

Judson Remembers Betty Lindner .................................................. 24 The university honors the memory of trustee and benefactor Betty Lindner.

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Faculty Accomplishments ............................................................ 16 Alumnotes ................................................................................ 18

JUDSON NEWS

Spring Production Creates Powerful Image of Slavery and Freedom

by Augie Morado ‘14 Judson’s Center for Worship in the Performing Arts spring production, “Ars Liturgica – Slavery: Past, Present, and Future,” was no ordinary theater show. The multimedia event, combining stage acting with dance, video, and songs, including a performance

by Judson’s Choir, illustrated slavery’s dangerous grip on humanity through the ages, and offered hope for the future.

Show Director and Professor Kimberly Schmidt says that the production was designed to begin before patrons even walked into the theater. Outside the Marjorie Thulin Performance Hall where the show was staged, paintings by Art and Design students hung on the walls while original music composed by senior Music Composition major Ben Richardson played in the background, all inspired by the production’s theme. Along with the artwork, display tables were set up for organizations devoted to ending modern slavery and human trafficking, such as A21, Nightlight, and Administer Justice. Audience members could speak with them about action steps they could take in the fight to end slavery – by volunteering, donating, writing a letter of encouragement, or simply praying for people who are still in bondage.

The show itself shared stories of African slaves in southern America, as well as stories of modern-day human trafficking and abolitionists. Schmidt says that audience response to the play was overwhelmingly positive, despite the difficult subject matter. She is

pleased with the collaboration between students and professors from several different majors that made “Ars Liturgica” work so well.

“We want to do a lot more collaboration,” she said. “It was a really wonderful thing.”

The production featured a video reflection from Judson Art and Design Professor Joe Cory about his 2013 trip to South Africa, where he learned about the inhumanities and horrors of apartheid.

Curtis Sartor, Dean of the School of Art, Design and Architecture, also contributed to the production by reciting a series of poems he wrote about slavery and freedom, including “The Other Mayflower” and “Colored Lines.”

“Slavery: Past, Present, and Future” is the first production of “Ars Liturgica” (latin for “the worshiping arts”), which Schmidt hopes will be performed on an annual basis, each with a different theme. It’s the first production of its kind at Judson, meant to be a showcase of the interdisciplinary arts through the university’s newly established Center for Worship in the Performing Arts.

“This show envelops all we are trying to do with the Center for Worship in the Performing Arts, which is to share the message of Christ and his love,” said Schmidt. “Anything we give back to God, we consider to be worship. In the Center for Worship in the Performing Arts, we worship through the arts, and we can use the arts to impact people.”

Faculty and students participated in this powerful production. Ars Liturgica illustrated slavery's dangerous grip on humanity through the ages, and offered hope for the future.

Photos by Eric Secker

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Senior Cassie Criminger Named Judson’s 2013 Lincoln Laureate

by Bethany Suckrow ‘09 Senior visual communications student Cassie Criminger, of Flanagan, Ill., was named the Judson Student Lincoln Laureate for 2013. The Student Lincoln Laureate is an annual honor given to a top senior from each public and private college and university in the state of Illinois who exhibits distinct academic and extracurricular excellence.

Criminger is active on campus in several capacities. She’s an athlete on the cross country and track and field team, and a member for Judson’s chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. She also served as a resident assistant for a campus dormitory last year.

She even contributed work to the brand design for Jerry’s Café, the campus coffee shop that opened in fall 2012. She made the Dean’s List for 2011 through 2013, and was named a scholar athlete for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics last spring.

Criminger came to Judson on a cross country and track scholarship, and she says that her experience at Judson has helped her to go beyond being a good student and athlete to use her passion to glorify God. “When I was in high school, I think I worked really hard for my grades in order to please others,” she says. “When I came to Judson, however, no one knew me as that girl anymore. It made me realize that I couldn’t work hard solely for others but for myself and for God. I had to step back and ask myself what was driving me and what was it I hoped to accomplish by working hard. I have also grown a lot spiritually here simply by being surrounded by godly men and women who have pushed me to step out in my faith, supported me through highs and lows, and have been willing to open up and share their stories.”

Criminger and the other Student Lincoln Laureates were honored at a November ceremony, where they were given a tour of the Old State Capitol where President Lincoln spent much of his early career.

Cassie Criminger and her parents travelled to Springfield, Ill. Criminger and the other Student Lincoln Laureates were honored at a ceremony on Saturday, November 2, 2013.

“More than just awarding us, I felt like the ceremony was really an encouragement to continue working hard and to be leaders in the community,” says Criminger.

She also attributes much of her success to the support of her parents and coaches, who have always encouraged her in her academics, athletics and her faith.

“Having people in my life who understand the importance and balance of all three of these has helped me be able to accomplish what I have during my time here at Judson,” she says.

She also says she’s thankful for her time spent with peers in the design studio.

“My favorite memories at Judson are in studio with my classmates.

We have spent a lot of time working together, struggling over the same projects, taking breaks to make crazy contraptions or watch silly videos, and getting excited about design; its just been fun to see everyone grow together both in our designs and as people in general.”

Criminger will graduate in May 2014 from the visual communications program. When asked about her plans for the future, Criminger says her goal is to work at a small firm or do some form of editorial work in the Chicago area.

New Department, Same Great English Program

by Augie Morado ‘14 Previously, Judson University’s Communication Arts Department consisted of three divisions: English, Film and Digital Media, and Speech Communications and Performing Arts. Now, each division is its own department. Pat Hargis, associate professor of English and chair of the English Department, explains that the change makes each division more autonomous.

“Sometimes a big thing like Communication Arts looks unfamiliar or unclear,” says Hargis. “By having three separate departments, it makes things easier for prospective students to find.”

While the English program has become its own department, there

will be no major changes to the curriculum. Like before, the English major offers two tracks: students will choose either Literature or Writing as their concentration. Hargis says that the goal of the English department remains the same as in recent years: “Our mission is to enable students to become good, strong readers and writers and, by studying literature and writing, develop the ability to express one’s self well and to be able to think, analyze, and construct ideas.”

This article concludes our series on majors branching out into their own department from the Communication Arts Division.

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JUDSON NEWS

JUDSON’S ADULT PROGRAM

Celebrates TWENTY YEARS

Sal Ingraffia graduates from the Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership program in 2013.

by David Cook, Interim Dean of the School of Leadership and Business In February 1994, 20 adult students began a personal learning journey that also inaugurated the adult learning program at then Judson College. More than 2,400 students have graduated since that class of pioneer students enrolled in the adult program’s first major, Management and Leadership.

In the intervening 20 years, Judson College changed its name to Judson University, the adult program changed its own name several times, and it became housed under Judson’s School of Leadership and Business.

Its list of undergraduate majors has grown to include Christine TreDenick Human Services, Human Resources, Criminal Justice, Communications Management, and Management and Leadership. It has even added two graduate degree programs, the Master of Organizational Leadership and the Master of Business

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Administration. It also expanded from the main campus in Elgin to a branch in Rockford, Ill., as well as offering courses on site at Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Ill., and the General Electric offices in Hoffman Estates, Ill. And through all of this, the academic, professional, and spiritual trajectories of thousands of lives have positively changed.

The adult program owes much of its vision and success to Dr. David Dickerson, who became Judson College’s academic dean in 1992.

Back then, the student body consisted of mostly 18-23 year olds, but Dr. Dickerson ’09, ’11 suggested that Judson consider expanding its influence to “assist working adults who were trapped in life and unable to pursue a traditional education.” His vision was to establish evening classes in an accelerated format that would be convenient for the working

I knew there had to be more for me in the career marketplace. I needed to be able to earn more money to support my family. Judson made it possible for me to work my full-time job and earn a degree, while being a single parent with two young children. Now I am in management at my current employer and I am advancing in my career path as my company grows.”

More than

2,400

adult graduates

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adult learner, taught by Christian faculty with real-world experience.

His dream was for a place where adults could finish their degree, network, and make life-long friends.

One of Judson’s board members, Hazel Jean Nietzold, took a step of faith by providing the $50,000 “seed money” needed to get the program off the ground. Judson named the program Adult Instructional Model, or AIM. From there, Judson hired its first Executive Director and Dean of the AIM program, Dr. Dennis Jameson, who led the pioneering effort through the early years to its expansion in Rockford. Dr. Jameson was succeeded by Dr. Jim Rohe in 2000, who led several different initiatives in his tenure. Dr. Rohe was responsible for establishing a second campus in Rockford in 2001, the expansion of undergraduate offerings to include a liberal arts cohort in 2002 for those students without enough credits needed to start their major, the initiative for online courses in 2002, and the first accelerated graduate program in 2006. Dr. Rohe retired in 2009, and after a period of interims, Dr. Thomas Berliner became the new Dean. During his three years at Judson, Dr. Berliner led the development and approval of the Master of Business Administration and the partnership with the Institute for Professional Development to increase enrollment and move to a new Learning Management System, eLEARN. The year 2014 starts the third decade for Judson University’s adult programs. Within the next year, the program plans to include additional undergraduate majors in Applied Psychology, Business Administration and Marketing, as well as two additional graduate programs scheduled to debut. Enrollment goals over the next few years are projected to more than double the size of the program.

From that pioneering class of 20 Management and Leadership students in 1994 to present day, thousands of Judson’s adult students have gone on to earn graduate degrees, rise to the top of their field, and make a difference in their organizations. The adult program itself has transformed into a thriving part of Judson’s mission for shaping lives that shape the world. With such a firm foundation of success, the faculty, staff and students of Judson University’s Adult Professional Studies program look forward to flourishing further in the next 20 years.

students made up the first

graduating class of Management and Leadership in 1994

Classes offered in

ELGIN ROCKFORD ONLINE GENEVA undergraduate majors

graduate majors

Communications Management

Master of Business Administration

Criminal Justice Human Resources Human Services Management and Leadership

Master of Organizational Leadership Master of Leadership in Ministry

LEARN MORE AT OUR UPCOMING ENROLLMENT MEETINGS ELGIN May 1 and May 7 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

ROCKFORD May 6 and May 21 from 1-3 p.m.

May 14 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

SPRING 2014 7

JUDSON NEWS

Judson’s Architecture Graduates Surpass Peers in Architect Registration Examination

by Bethany Suckrow ‘09 New data shows that Judson’s architecture graduates are surpassing their peers in the Architect Registration Examination (ARE), according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). In November the NCARB released ARE pass rates for 2012, and Judson’s results proved truly outstanding.

The ARE assesses candidates for their knowledge, skills and ability to provide the various services required in the practice of architecture. It has been adopted for use by all 54 U.S. NCARB Member Boards, and is one of the leading measures of both an architect graduate’s practice readiness and an architecture program’s success. When graduates complete their ARE exams, they have the ability to secure their license to practice in every state in the country by earning the NCARB Certificate.

According to ARE pass rates from 2012, Judson’s architecture graduates surpassed their peers at all other professional architecture schools in the state of Illinois. The 2012 data also shows that while Judson’s graduates were a mere .09 below one of its peer institutions in the category of Programming, Planning and Practice, they fared better than every other school in every other exam category.

Additionally, NCARB now has three full years of reporting on the Judson graduate ARE pass rates: 2010, 2011, and 2012. The years 2010 and 2012 show similar results, while 2011 saw a dip in performance and number of testers, though the reason for that dip is unclear. This collective data shows that not only was 2012 quite a strong year for Judson’s program and its students, but longitudinally over a three-year period, Judson graduates have performed at very

Programming, Planning & Practice

Site Planning & Design

ARE Pass Rates by School 2012 Illinois Universities

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Building Design & Construction Systems

high levels compared to state peer programs.

So what is it about Judson’s architecture program that is distinguishing it from its Illinois peers?

“The curriculum and preceptorship that we have developed is focused on the practice of architecture and excels at, among a variety of other things, creating practice-ready professionals,” explains Professor and Department Chair Keelan Kaiser.

In addition to the curriculum, the faculty that teach it also far surpass their peers at other architecture institutions in licensure.

The national average of licensed full-time faculty is 37.5 percent in accredited programs by the National Architecture Accrediting Board. For Judson’s architecture department, the average is more than twice that, at 80 percent. A full 75 percent of them hold a Ph.D., a rarity in higher education.

Kaiser also attributes the program’s success to Judson’s liberal arts core and Christian education mission, which creates well-rounded practitioners.

“A practice-ready professional is truly only possible with a robust liberal arts educational experience, and the Christian mission of the University stimulates a character ethos that is greatly needed in all professions including architecture,” Kaiser says. “We should all take great pride in knowing that our graduates are competing at the highest levels of professional practice. It is a huge team effort and students benefit from the gifts of faculty across all subject areas and disciplines at the University.”

Schematic Design

Structural Systems

Judson University

Regional Professional School B

Regional Professional School A

Regional Professional School C

Building Systems

Construction Documents and Services

Source: ncarb.org

Judson Team Helps Town Recover from Tornado

Photos by Jamie Galen ’17

by Madhu Krishnamurthy Though his family’s home was spared from the EF-4 tornado that ravaged Washington, Ill., November 17, Greg Butler knew he had to do something to help his community.

“There are over 1,700 homes that have been certified unlivable and 500 of them are completely lost,” said the 21-year-old architecture student at Judson University in Elgin. “A lot of the work right now is sorting those rubble piles into waste that can go to the landfill.”

Butler urged officials at the Christian liberal arts university to pull together a volunteer relief team to help with the cleanup. Roughly 30 students and a few faculty members spent three days in Washington earlier this week doing just that.

“He was delightfully persistent,” said Chris Lash, Judson’s director of university ministry, who led the mission.

Group members split into three teams to help clear debris, sort donations and make themselves useful wherever help was needed.

Judson University paid for all expenses such as transportation, food and lodging.

“We planned this in a little under three weeks,” Lash said. “It took on a life of its own. To my knowledge, we haven’t done a relief response trip before.”

Judson volunteers bunked at North Minister Presbyterian Church in neighboring Peoria, a mobilizing agency for relief efforts.

“Our group was the largest group they had come through,” Lash said.

Butler, who is home for winter break, said it is eerie seeing snow blanket the piles of rubble that once were homes and neighborhoods in the central Illinois town of roughly 15,000 people.

“It’s harder to see where the houses were,” Butler said.

Butler, who has lived in Washington since he was seven, said the homes of many of his high school classmates were hit by the storm.

“My best friend’s house was completely leveled,” he said. “He was luckily home from college during the tornado. He ended up getting his mom into the basement just before the tornado hit.”

Butler said media coverage of the tornado’s aftermath died down after a week.

“I felt like people needed to come and see for themselves and help,” he said. “There is just such a great need that I knew a group would be helpful.”

Continued financial support and manpower to clean up debris is critical to getting the town back on its feet, he said.

“Debris removal is expensive and the more volunteers that we have the less the city will incur in expenses in moving and trucking away this debris,” Butler said.

Visit JudsonU.edu/missiontrips to see videos from other mission trips Judson students have participated in this spring.

This article was originally published in the Daily Herald on December 19, 2013 and is reprinted with permission.

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SHAPING THE FUTURE WITH OUR NEW STRATEGIC PLAN

By President Gene C. Crume, Jr.

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Our purpose is to equip Judson graduates to be fully engaged men and women who use their gifts and education to benefit the world.

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On the adjacent page, you’ll notice a detailed infographic that outlines our new strategic plan. I am pleased to share with you that the Board of Trustees approved this strategic plan on February 16, 2014, and we have now moved into the goal-planning and implementation phase. Our staff and faculty are already hard at work collaborating to achieve each of these objectives over the next five years.

As we’ve made these plans and thought about the future, I was reminded of a statement from Judson’s 1978 graduating class: “With God as our Shepherd, we will shape the future.”

My Executive Assistant and fellow Leadership Team member, Tena Robotham, was a member of that graduating class which so aptly captured the heart of Judson’s mission. The motto has been a guiding principle for her life, work, and her long-standing

GOALS & OBJECTIVES 1. ACADEMIC LIFE

Judson University will have an engaging, innovative and robust academic life

4. JUDSON COMMUNITY CARE AND DEVELOPMENT

Judson University will take care of the people associated with it who are dedicated to the University’s vision and mission

2. CAMPUS MASTER PLAN

Judson University will develop a clear vision for developing campus facilities and related infrastructure for the next decade

3. ENROLLMENT & RETENTION Judson University will develop clear goals for growth in retention and enrollment for the next five years as well as strengthen the foundation for both for the next decade

connection with Judson as a committed alumna. Today she continues to be deeply invested in her school’s future through her work in the office, in efforts like our strategic plan, and in events like Founders’ Day, Homecoming, and our 50th Anniversary. She’s shaping the world around her, and it is a beautiful demonstration of her faith in God as her Shepherd.

Judson University strives to be as faithful as a higher education institution as our alumni, like Tena. In 2013 Judson adopted a new brand statement, “shaping lives to shape the world.” Though the resemblance between this new brand statement and the 1978 graduating class motto was not necessarily intentional, it demonstrates the continuity of Judson’s mission.

Our purpose is to equip Judson graduates to be fully engaged men and women who use their gifts and education to benefit

5. STUDENT LIFE

The Judson University experience for our students will be spiritually enriching and intellectually challenging as well as include co-curricular experiences that help our students become well-rounded people

6. TECHNOLOGY

Judson University will greatly strengthen and more fully integrate technology into the academic, co-curricular and business affairs of the institution

the world. We strive to create a culture of connection, building relationships between professors and students, preparing students to change the world one life at a time. We are deeply committed to the spiritual development of our community, helping students to go forth and live out an ethos of service and love for the people around them. We work to provide opportunities for students to develop habits of leadership and involvement that they can take with them into the rest of their lives. We cultivate an environment in which excellence is motivated by faith.

Our hope with this new strategic plan is that we will develop new strategies to fulfill these attributes and build our reputation as an institution faithfully invested in the lives of students that are shaping the world.

With God as our Shepherd, we will shape the future.

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CONDOLEEZZA RICE CALLS ON JUDSON STUDENTS TO SHAPE THEIR WORLD B Y B E T H A N Y S U C K R O W ‘09

Photos by Robb Davidson ‘08 , Kevin Sherman ‘09 and Eric Secker

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice charmed audiences with personal anecdotes and insights on leadership at Judson University’s World Leaders Forum on March 19. She spoke at two separate events for the Forum, first to a crowd of 600 in Judson’s Herrick Chapel for the Community Event, and then to a group of 130 sponsors and entrepreneurs at the VIP Reception held at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago.

Dr. Rice, who served as U.S. Secretary of State from 2005-2009, is the second woman and first African American woman to hold the position. She also served as National Security Advisor to the George W. Bush Administration from 2001-2005, the first woman to hold that position.

Dr. Rice is the fourth world leader to keynote Judson’s forum 12 JUDSON today

since it was established in 2011, following former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2013, former Soviet President and Nobel Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev in 2012, and former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2011. In his introduction of Dr. Rice at the Community Event, Judson President Gene Crume noted that of all the possible world leaders, Condoleezza was the single most often requested as keynote speaker for the 2014 Forum.

“Our hope is that by giving Judson students the opportunity to sit face-to-face with world leaders like Condoleezza Rice, they will be inspired to help shape the world,” said President Crume. “The World Leaders Forum is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of our students.”

This theme was central to Dr. Rice’s speech at the Community

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The Lord our God gave each of us a brain and expects us to use it, Thank you to Judson University for being a place where faith and reason are both valued and encouraged.

DR. CONDOLEEZZA RICE

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Event, in which she reflected on world leadership and human achievement, as well as the transforming power of education.

She encouraged students to leverage their collegiate experience by seeking out their passions, and by embracing challenges and diversity. She offered an in-depth perspective on her own educational experience as a young girl from Birmingham, Ala. Though she had early aspirations to be a concert pianist, Dr. Rice found fulfillment in an entirely different field of American politics.

Thanks to a class on International Politics taught by Josef Korbel at the University of Denver, she discovered a passion for the Russian language and culture, which led her to become one of the leading experts on Russian diplomacy and foreign affairs. She reminded students that though finding one’s passion is always a challenge, it is often more fulfilling to overcome something that’s hard than to constantly do something that is easy.

Dr. Rice also advised students that earning an education and discovering their passion in itself isn’t enough; they have to share their gifts with the world in a meaningful way. A great democracy rests on rights, she explained, but it also rests on the responsibility of citizens to one another. The educated have a responsibility to use their knowledge to help the less fortunate.

Dr. Rice also expounded on the unique opportunity that Judson students have to earn an education in an institution, which recognizes that faith and reason are not mutually exclusive.

“The Lord our God gave each of us a brain and expects us to use it,” said Dr. Rice. “Thank you to Judson University for being a place

where faith and reason are both valued and encouraged.”

Following her speech, Dr. Rice answered several questions in a Q&A session conducted by the Community Event emcee, Cheryl Burton, who is an Emmy Award-winning television news anchor for ABC7 Chicago. Questions for the Q&A were submitted by Judson community members, ranging on topics from Dr. Rice’s personal faith to the challenges she faced as a woman of color leading international politics, to her thoughts on current events.

VIP EVENT AT HILTON CHICAGO

More than 130 donors met at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago for the VIP reception, where Dr. Condoleezza Rice gave a keynote address on global leadership. Dan Proft, a radio talk show host for WLS-AM in Chicago, emceed the event.

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Judson students from the traditional and adult programs enjoy Dr. Condoleezza Rice's keynote address at the Community Event in Herrick Chapel.

The real highlight of the Q&A session came when Judson student Anatoliy Tkach, a junior Christian Ministries major and an international student from Ukraine, had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Rice on stage about the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimean Peninsula. Tkach explained that his friends who live in the Ukraine see the conflict as a battle between two powers: the United States and Russia. Dr. Rice replied that the United States does not want to make the crisis a contest between Russia and the United States, but rather an opportunity for Ukranians to have the same rights that the rest of the world has. The two went on to dialogue in Russian, which both Tkach and Dr. Rice speak fluently.

“She is a very passionate person that I can relate with,” Tkach said after the forum. “I am also very motivated by leaders like her who are a minority. I consider myself a minority as well.”

The exchange offered a glimpse of Dr. Rice’s passion for educating young students like Tkach. She told the audience during the Q&A that contrary to what people might assume, her role as U.S. Secretary of State was not her dream job, but rather her role in academia as a political science professor for Standford University is what she has found most fulfilling. Dr. Rice began her tenure at Stanford in 1980 and went on to serve as the Ivy League university’s provost from 1993 – 1999. She returned to the school after her term in the White House ended in 2009, where she now serves as professor of Political Economy in the Graduate School of Business; the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution; and a professor of Political Science at Stanford. Rice told Burton and the audience that she loves being a 14 JUDSON today

professor because it opens up worlds to students that they may never have discovered otherwise. She says she demands excellence of her students, but that they often return to her years later to tell her that they valued the experience.

The Community Event ended on a meaningful note when Burton asked Dr. Rice what she hoped her legacy would be as a world leader.

“I don’t believe in the goal of leadership should be about building a legacy. History has a long arc, and those judgments about our legacies are made many years down the road. But I hope I am remembered as someone that advocated for people’s freedom.

And I hope it’s understood how much I loved being a part of an educational institution and helping young people, because in the end, legacy is not about the things you do but the people you touch.”

Funds raised from the World Leaders Forum go toward scholarships for current Judson University students and an endowment to start an entrepreneurial studies program at Judson. Thank you to the sponsors that made this event possible.

To see photos and videos of the event, plus a full list of our sponsors, visit JudsonU.edu/WLF.

COMMUNITY EVENT AT HERRICK CHAPEL

Students, faculty, alumni and donors convened in Herrick Chapel for the Community Event. Dr. Condoleezza Rice gave her keynote address and answered questions in a Q&A session, emceed by Cheryl Burton, TV news anchor for ABC Channel 7 in Chicago.

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FA C U LT Y A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S Jhennifer A. Amundson, Ph.D., Professor, Architecture, was appointed Regional Representative to the East Central States for Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society for Architecture and Allied Arts for the academic year 2013-14. In May 2014, she will present her paper, “The Inexorable Influence of Christopher Wren and the Design of the U.S. Capitol Dome” at the annual symposium of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, held at St. John’s College, Oxford University.

Keelan P. Kaiser, M. Arch, Professor, Architecture, has conducted applied research, the fruits of which have led to a new house addition in Bozeman, Mont., which will be finished in Fall 2014. The house was featured in the exhibition titled, “The Faculty” in the Draewell Gallery of Art on campus, and demonstrates a contemporary application of passive solar technology toward the design of a zero energy house. The project also demonstrates using existing housing building stock as a base and adapting it to contemporary lifestyle and needs, reducing the impact of construction on emissions, and connecting to existing neighborhood amenities and services.

Stacie Burtelson, M. Arch, Professor, Architecture, participated in an interview for the Spring issue of L’Ordre des Architectes du Quebec (French for The Association of Architects of the province of Quebec).

The article, entitled “La Reconstruction après Catastrophe (“Reconstruction Post Disaster”) highlights her work with the sophomore architecture students’ shelter project for the World Vision Disaster Shelter competition. Burtleson also participated in a round table workshop at the annual Association of Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) Conference in Toronto, Ontario, October 21-25.

Curtis Sartor, Ph.D., Dean of Art, Design, and Architecture, had six paintings in homage to Le Corbusier titled, “Ascension,” displayed in the Draewell Gallery of Art as part of Judson's faculty exhibit.

Joe Cory, M.F.A., Associate Professor, Art and Design, gave a presentation in January titled, “What’s Next?: Some Thoughts on the MFA in Response to Coco Fusco and Jerry Saltz,” for students and faculty in the Wheaton College Department of Art and Design in Wheaton, Ill. He also co-edited the April issue of the Christians in the Visual Arts SEEN Journal with Professor Rachel Smith (Taylor University), titled, “Unsettled Ground: In and Out of Africa.” Cory also submitted a paper to the same issue titled, “In View: Art as a Means for Justice - The Architecture and Art Collection of the South African Constitutional Court Building.” Finally, Professor Cory displayed four new paintings in Judson's faculty exhibit.

Rob Currie, Ph.D., Professor, Psychology, selfpublished two books: Real Moms, Real Answers: Great Parenting Tips from over 2,000 Moms of Children 18 Months to 5 Years (October 2013) and One Thing Every Son Needs: A Practical Guide for Parents, Educators and Youth Workers (November 2013). He also presented two papers: “Understanding Boys” at the National Conference for Hearts 16 JUDSON today

at Home in Bloomingon, Ill., March 8-9, and “Understanding Preschoolers” at the North Central Conference for Hearts at Home in Rochester, Minn., November 9.

Pat Hargis, Associate Professor, English, presented his “Memories of Jesus” program, a set of original songs, at First Baptist Church in Pontiac, Ill. on June 23.

Later in the year, he performed some original songs as part of warm-up music for a concert by Phil Joel (formerly of the Newsboys) on October 19, also in Pontiac, Ill. Craig A. Kaplowitz, Ph.D., Professor, History, presented a paper titled, “Image-Bearing and Brokenness as Analytic Categories in the World History Survey” at the Conference on Virtues, Vices, and Teaching at Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich., October 3-5. Kaplowitz was also appointed to the Editorial Review Board for Milestone Documents, a series of historical reference books published by Schlager Group, Inc. Sharon Kim, Ph.D., Professor, English, received the 2013 Book of the Year Award from the Conference on Christianity and Literature, an allied organization within the Modern Language Association (MLA) for her book, Literary Epiphany in the Novel, 1850-1950: Constellations of the Soul (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). The award was presented during the annual luncheon at the MLA Convention, held in January 2014 in Chicago.

Eric F. Mason, Ph.D., Professor, Biblical Studies, presented a paper titled “Second Temple Jewish Ideas About the Origins of Angels and Their Implications for the Epistle to the Hebrews” at a meeting of the Chicago Society of Biblical Research at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., April 6, 2013.

Mark A. Torgerson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Worship Arts, delivered a number of presentations, including “God, Humanity, and the Non-human Creation,” and "Achieving Creation Care: Examples from Faith Communities,” and the keynote address, “Faith in a Changing Climate,” at the Annual Meeting of Iowa Interfaith Power and Light in Granger, Iowa, November 14. He also served as design consultant for the construction of a chapel at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., April 2013, and for the renovation of primary worship space at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, N.C., October 2013.

Terrence Wandtke, Ph.D., Professor, Film and Digital Media, received the M. Thomas Inge Award for Comics Scholarship for his presentation, “Frank Miller and Ed Brubaker: Outlaws and Fredric Wetham, the Despised In-Law” at the 2013 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference in Washington, D.C.

FA C U LT Y V O I C E

Photo by Eric Secker

Transforming Lives through Education

Dr. Michelle Kilbourne Program Director of Master of Business Administration and Director of Curriculum Services

Most of us probably have specific activities that we do to unwind after a long day. I turn on the television and watch the home design shows that transform an outdated structure from “weary and worn” to “relevant and refreshed.” I am often mesmerized by both the vision and the outcome.

For the last 15 years, I have been teaching in the Adult and Graduate Programs at Judson University. I find I am equally fascinated by the transformation that occurs with our students. Many of them enter the program with outdated skill sets or knowledge bases. Yet, through the vehicle of our academic programs, these same individuals emerge with a current and relevant mix of both knowledge and experience. They become the person who can both see new possibilities and implement them in the organizations for which they work and serve.

The same transformation phenomenon applies to organizations as well. For every news story about a successful entrepreneurial venture, there are countless other organizations that have evolved into inflexible assemblages unable to adapt to the changing world around it. Businesses have “weary and worn” processes, structures, and metrics that can also be transformed.

It is for this reason that I am absolutely thrilled that Judson has recently started a Masters of Business Administration degree. Students in this program engage with the business as a system by first understanding basic business functions then exploring financial foundations. Students learn how to evaluate and use research in the development of business strategies. Throughout the program, students will stay abreast of current issues facing business today. Watching the home shows, I am amazed at how even the core assumption of a supporting wall can be reengineered to create a new reality. It is my desire that all students graduating with an MBA from Judson University can do the same – learn how to reengineer a business assumption that facilitates a process of organizational transformation.

Of course, transformation through educational pursuits is not new for those that practice the Christian faith. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Students completing the MBA, as well as any other program at Judson University, acquire ideas and concepts that sharpen one’s critical thinking skills toward the ultimate question: How can one become an ambassador for Christ? This question applies not only to those that lead our spiritual organizations but our for-profit businesses as well.

As the recently named MBA program director, I have started the process of developing my own two to five year vision that includes the implementation of several certificates that can be married with the core business courses to develop a customized educational experience. A recent Wall Street Journal article (Feb. 5, 2014) on renting MBAs has spurred me to investigate the development of a business consulting group staffed by our MBA graduates. Finally, building on Judson University’s strategic plan, I will be exploring the best way to provide our students with international business opportunities.

Late at night, mesmerized by both vision and outcome of a transformed home, it occurs to me that these transformations do not occur with just one individual. A team of people, both on camera and off, work together to tell a story that draws me in. Much like those stories of transformation, I cannot achieve this vision alone. Individuals feeling called to partner with me behind the camera can email me at mkilbourne@JudsonU.edu.

Individuals feeling called to play an “on-camera” role by completing the program should visit JudsonAdultDegrees.com. True transformations in Christ are a journey and I look forward to passing you on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) where I pray we both are able to meet the Risen Lord.

SPRING 2014 17

ALUMnotes

Join the Judson University Alumni Club and you will be helping your alma mater while enjoying savings exclusively for Alumni Club members! Go to JudsonU.edu/Alumni for more information. We want to know what our illustrious alumni are up to, so be sure to notify us of your latest personal and professional achievements. Alumnotes are published in each printed issue of Judson Today. Please submit news and photos for inclusion in the next issue of Judson Today by June 1. Digital photos may be submitted in JPG format and should not exceed 5MB in size. If you would like fellow alumni to be able to contact you, please submit your email address with your alumnote.

Please send your Alumnote to: Judson University Alumni Office | 1151 N. State St. | Elgin, IL 60123 Alumni@JudsonU.edu | 847.628.2083 | Fax 847.628.2094

Congratulations to Kim Kaufman ’07 who was recently hired as the new vice president and treasury management regional sales manager of Heartland Financial USA. Kim works out of the Riverside Community Bank, Harrison Avenue Branch and is responsible for increasing treasury management sales.

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Dr. Bill Tickel ’92 recently celebrated 17 years of marriage with his wife Tammy. Bill and Tammy are chiropractors at their home business, Tickel Chiropractic in Moorhead, Minn. The Tickel family resides with their six children in Hawley, Minn.

In November, 2013, Erik Berger ’13 was appointed the next Seinan Gakuin 4-L Foundation Associate. Erik will be travelling to Japan in March 2014 and will begin his service as the assistant to the chaplain on April 1.

Dr. Russ Roloff ’00 and wife Nicole welcomed twins Reid Ryan (5 lbs. 1 oz.) and Isaac Louis (5 lbs. 2 oz.) into the Roloff family on November 24, 2013. The Roloff family (Russ, Nicole, Owen, Edith, Akeyla, Reid and Isaac) serves as medical missionaries in Espungabara, Mozambique with Africa Inland Mission International.

Brooklyn Faith and Emma Grace were born on December 5, 2013 to parents John and Jennifer (McAllister ’06) Cathey. Brooklyn (4 lbs.

11 oz.) and Emma (4 lbs. 3 oz.) are pictured here with their big sisters Adelyn and Lily Kate. The Cathey family lives in Bartlett, Ill.

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Class officers Don Kraus ’71 and Bryce Pruett ’71 recently reunited in Naples, Fla. Bryce resides in West Lafayette, Ind., and Don resides in Naples.

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In January, several Judson alumni and friends gatherings were held in Florida. Pictured at the University Park, Fla., lunch are: Jerry Cain, Angelo Bravos ’81, Matt Weber, Arlie Weber, Tom Keating, Joann Keating, Mary Keith, Jan Gabrielse, Ian Keith, Margeri Gabrielse, Bonnie Bienert, Gene Crume and Roger Brimmerman.

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Pictured at the Ruskin, Fla., dinner are: Bonnie Bienert, Joel Mimbs ’10, Roger Brimmerman, Jerry Cain, Gene Crume, Jim Cook, Sharon (Anderson ’84) Cook, Gayle Terjung, Dale Terjung ’66 and Angelo Bravos ’81.

ALUMNI NEWS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS Rev. Dwight Gorbold ’81 became the pastor of Immanuel United Church of Christ in Peotone, Ill., in December 2013. Dwight and his wife Rene (Floyd ’79) reside in Peotone.

Scott and Cathy (Reardon ’94) Liebenow ’95 recently signed to the record label Big Round Records and are due to release a children’s CD of original music entitled The Daydream. Visit their website at gofundme.com/thedaydream to learn more about their project.

José Morales ’01 serves as the Executive Regional Minister of the central Rocky Mountain region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.) This region spans the areas of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, northern New Mexico and southeast Idaho. José has a Master of Divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary and resides in Denver with his wife Daphne.

Stephen Light ’82 caught up with Jerry Cain in Ft. Myers, Fla., during one of the Judson gatherings.

Frank Andrea ’82 and Angelo Bravos ’81 had lunch in Orlando, Fla. 7

Marcos Almonte ’04 was confirmed as the Senior Pastor at Brandywine Baptist Church in Chadds Ford, Pa. Marcos and his wife (Mary Stewart ’04) are very excited about the new position.

Dr. Job ’68 and Mercedes Clement visited with Angelo Bravos ’81 in Daytona Beach, Fla. 8

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Luke Jaw Ring ’02 and his wife Tsin Pan as well as past parents Pastor Thomas Thawng Liam and Mu Din Khup welcomed the Judson group to the First Burmese Christian Church service in Hollywood, Fla.

Lady Lake, Fla., was the gathering place for a Judson lunch with Harold Blatt, Connie Sopha ’94 and Janet Van de Walker-Thommes ‘68.

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CELEBRATE YOUR WINS! Join the rest of your peers and tell us what you’re up to!

Share your story with us by filling out the survey at JudsonU.edu/AlumniStorySurvey Read other alumni stories at JudsonU.edu/AlumniStories

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ALUMNI STORY

Three Judson Graduates Recognized as Teaching Elite

Tammy (Range) Alexander ‘81 won the Milken Educator award in 1998.

Judson faculty member Steve Layne ‘81 won the Milken Educator award in 2001.

Melissa Leisner ‘11 is the 2014 winner of the Milken Educator award.

by Tara García Mathewson Tammy (Range) Alexander, Class of 1981, doesn’t know Melissa Leisner, who got her Masters in Literacy from Judson in 2011.

They live in different parts of the country — Leisner in Elgin, Alexander in Alabama. But they’ll meet. They share a bond that crosses state and generational lines.

Besides both having graduated from Judson, they both have received an “Oscar of Teaching.” They are Milken Educators.

Dr. Steven Layne, who first graduated from Judson in 1987 with a Psychology degree but returned for his teaching certificate in 1989, won the Milken Educator Award in 2001. He later went 20 JUDSON today

on to develop the Masters and Doctoral programs in Literacy as a full-time professor at Judson. Layne met Alexander at a conference where she sought him out after realizing he was a Judson grad and Milken winner and they’ve been friends ever since.

“I don’t know the new winner,” Alexander said, after hearing news of Leisner’s win. “I don’t know her yet, but I will.”

The Milken Educator Awards have been handed out every year since 1987. Generally, one teacher per year per state gets the recognition — and a check for $25,000. There is no application or nomination. The Milken Family Foundation works with state

the National Council of Teachers of English convention. There, departments across the country where panels are organized to too, he accepted an award — the Edwin A Hoey Award for find the best new and mid-career educators who have gone largely Outstanding Middle School Educator in English Language Arts. unrecognized for their hard work and future potential.

Once they come up with names, the Milken Family Foundation Only one teacher receives this award per year.

Layne’s one year leave of absence turned into three and then chooses the winners, the ones who best match their criteria and who they believe occupy a spot in the top one percent of educators he gave up his job at the middle school level to teach in Judson’s undergraduate teacher education department. Since then he has in the profession. gone on to give the next generation of educators the tools they Then they give those teachers the surprise of a lifetime. need to be successful in the classroom, including Leisner, who “If it works the way it’s intended, right up to the minute we do incorporates much of what she learned in the Masters of Literacy the announcement they don’t even know they’re being considered for the award,” said Jane Foley, senior vice president of the Milken program at Judson in her everyday teaching.

Alexander, too, has gone on to train teachers. When she won Educator Awards. the award in 1998 as part of the first At Leisner’s ceremony, which class of Alabama educators to be took place in the Prairie Knolls recognized, Alexander taught fourth gymnasium in November, the grade. She was the first teacher in her seventh grade reading teacher school to implement the Accelerated was sitting on the steps of the Reader program, which, by the bleachers next to her students, time she got the award had spread wondering as much as they were why schoolwide. She also helped other state superintendent Christopher Koch was so interested in their blue Tammy (Range) Alexander ’81, ’11 fourth grade teachers develop a more activity-based science curriculum and alert system. That was the reason staff served on the Fanning Elementary members were given for the all school School technology committee in Meridianville, Ala. assembly.

When she won the Milken Educator Award, Alexander Then Foley stepped up to the microphone and began talking remembers one of her co-teachers saying it was the first time the about the Milken Educator Awards. After announcing the prize school had seen her speechless. came with an unrestricted check for $25,000, the gym full of “I think if you are a conscientious teacher you do what you do middle schoolers became understandably noisier. When Foley said because it’s the right thing for kids and you don’t necessarily know Leisner’s name she didn’t even hear her at first. that people are watching,” Alexander said. “The fact that people “Then it dawned on me,” Leisner said. “It was amazing. It was were watching and they said it, was extraordinary.” the biggest surprise and probably the best one that I’ve The year after she won the award Alexander left her classroom to ever gotten.” teach a wider group of educators about hands on science methods.

When Layne was awarded, he almost didn’t attend the assembly She has been at Alabama A&M University ever since. Her job now called in his honor. It was just a few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist involves providing professional development to teachers across attacks and when the entire school was called unexpectedly to the Northern Alabama, shaping the people who shape the lives of gym at Butler Junior High School in Oak Brook, where he was hundreds of children every year. a sixth through eighth grade English Language Arts teacher, one To Foley and the Milken Family Foundation, Alexander is a of his students panicked. A Pakistani refugee, the boy expected hero for her work. So is Layne. So is Leisner. And the fact that the worst when he realized the teachers didn’t know what was Judson can claim three such outstanding teachers as its own happening either. graduates exemplifies the strength of its program.

Thankfully, Layne calmed the boy down in time to make it to All three point to Judson as integral to their development and the gym to hear his name called and accept his own check for success. And the education they got here will give them the power $25,000. The award gave Layne a confidence in himself and his to have a ripple effect on teachers and students for decades. ideas about teaching that turned into a courage to make his next “These educators are influencing not only their students but the steps big ones. wider community and they’re doing it not only through teaching, “If all those people believe this about me, then maybe I really but a love of literacy,” Foley said. do have something to say,” Layne remembers realizing. “That’s a different way of thinking than the typical thinking which is that ‘I’m just a teacher.’”

Layne left his teaching job in Oak Brook for a national speaking tour the following year. He had been scouted while speaking at

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I think if you are a conscientious teacher you do what you do because it’s the right thing for kids and you don’t necessarily know that people are watching.”

SPRING 2014 21

CAMPUS LIFE

Who wants to build a snowman? Students embraced record snow falls this winter.

A team of students and alumni partnered with Thirst Missions in Belize this spring.

Over 100 guests tuned in to Judson's Justice Conference simulcast this February.

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The Judson Choir Tour sang for churches in Illinois, Iowa and Colorado on spring break.

Hall of Fame honorees including, (Left to right) Lee Paul, Leslie Ferguson, Jack Mathias, Kristin Lundquist DeBoer, Amy (Brendlinger) Vlastelica gather at the January 24 ceremony.

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Explore over 60 traditional undergraduate majors, as well as transfer, adult degree completion, master’s and online programs.

REAL LEARNING. Judson’s professors hold themselves and their students to the highest academic standards. But their expertise isn’t limited to ivory-tower theorizing, they have also been practitioners in the fields that they teach.

REAL LIFE. At Judson University, classroom excellence doesn’t stay in the classroom. Through internships, practicums, and student

DISCOVER IF JUDSON IS a good fit FOR YOU

Visit us on Preview Days and find out!

September 1, 2014 October 12-13, 2014 November 7, 2014

teaching, 90% of Judson students apply their learning in real-world settings while they are still in school.

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Judson Remembers Betty Lindner (1924 - 2013)

by Bethany Suckrow ‘09

In December, Judson mourned the death of one of its most distinguished community members, Betty Ruth Lindner. Betty was 89 years of age when she passed away on December 24, 2013. She is survived by her husband, Robert D. Lindner, Sr., and her four sons, Robert D. Lindner, Jr. (Paula), Jeffrey S. Lindner, A. Bradford Lindner (Marsha) and David C. Lindner (Joann), along with her brothers Robert A. Johnston and John David Johnston (Maureen), more than a dozen grandchildren, and a Judson family that is deeply grateful for her generosity spanning nearly 50 years.

Betty was a special figure to Judson, along with her husband Robert, for their contributions as leaders and benefactors. Betty was an active trustee at Judson University from 1972 until 2008, when she was named trustee emeriti. During her tenure as a trustee, she served as chair of several committees, including the Student Development Committee. In 1979, she received the prestigious Golden Eagle Award for her dedication and service to the college.

In 2001, Betty was presented an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Judson University. Betty’s faithful support of Judson throughout the years is evident today by the Betty R. Lindner Campus Commons,

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She faithfully donated her time, energy, and funding to Judson. The three buildings bearing her family namesake would not exist without her generosity.

Some have said that the university itself would not be here, were it not for the life and legacy of Betty Lindner.”

Dr. Jerry Cain, Chancellor

which was dedicated to Betty by her loving husband, Robert, in honor of her birthday in 1982.

Betty believed in Judson’s potential to be an institution of great learning and great faith. We are forever grateful for her generous legacy, which helps us to fulfill our mission as a Christian university.