Jensen, Sheppard-Jones Receive Sarah Bennett Holmes Awards
LEXINGTON, KY. (March 8, 2013) -- Two University of Kentucky women were honored today with the 2013 Sarah Bennett Holmes award. The recipients are Lynne Jensen, a nurse practitioner and associate director for clinical care for the Center for the Advancement of Women’s Health, and Kathy Sheppard-Jones, the training director at the Human Development Institute and adjunct assistant professor for the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at UK.
Now in its 20th year, the Sarah Bennett Holmes award recognizes a female faculty member and a female staff member for their contributions to issues that affect women at UK and across the Commonwealth and promotion of growth and well-being of other women.
Jensen has worked as a nurse practitioner since 1979 in a variety of positions in acute care and women’s health. She was one of the first cardiothoracic acute care nurse practitioners at the University of Rochester. In the late 1980s she transitioned to working in women’s health in private practice. She joined the UK College of Nursing in 1998 and was a founding member of the women’s health practice in 1999. Jensen has worked with the College of Medicine and their standardized patient program in developing evaluations for nurse practitioner students since 2001. She also serves as clinical faculty for the family nurse practitioner students as well as teaching in the family nurse practitioner specialty courses.
Sheppard-Jones, representing UK staff, works on projects of state and national significance in areas related to higher education and disability, accessible housing, rehabilitation technology, and quality of life. She also oversees the Graduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities. She came to Kentucky for the horses, and stayed for the exciting opportunities she found at UK.
Sarah Bennett Holmes, UK’s distinguished Dean of Women from 1942 to 1957, tirelessly championed the rights of women throughout her career. Widowed at a young age during the Great Depression, Holmes carried on, raising four children while completing her own education. She went on to a successful career at UK, inspiring young women to persevere in the face of hardship to pursue their educational and career goals.
In her honor, the UK Women’s Forum created the Sarah Bennett Holmes Award in 1994. The award is granted annually to two women working at the university who promote the growth and well-being of other women at UK and across the Commonwealth. More specifically, the award makes a point of recognizing personal perseverance and efforts that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Chair of the Women’s Forum, Sarah Nikirk said, “I would like to emphasize that it is truly an honor to be recognized as a nominee. To be acknowledged by one’s colleagues as being an inspiration and role model is a significant accomplishment worthy of recognition.”
The nominees were Cristina Alcade (Gender and Women’s Studies), Clare Batty, (Philosophy), Merna Brown (Cardiovascular Research Center), Alyson Cooper (Dentistry Orthodontics), Emily Duncan (University Health Service), Frances Feltner (Rural Health), Joanne Filkins (Music), Julia Flannery (College of Health Sciences), Diane Follingstad (Psychiatry), Diane Freeman (College of Engineering), Vicki Gatz (Diagnostic Services), Beth Guiton (Chemistry), Judy Jackson (Institutional Diversity), Cassandra Johnson (Student Support Services), Jane Johnson (College of Fine Arts), Brenda Kuns (UK HealthCare) Connie LeRoy (Medical Center, Physical Plant), Yolinda “Lonnie” Mayfield (Admissions & Registrar), Elizabeth Oates (Radiology), Rita Parsons (Agriculture Economics), Karen Slaymaker (UK International Center), Carol White (Mechanical Engineering), and Constance Wood (Statistics).