Two professors who served St. Ambrose University and its students in numerous and important ways over a combined 55 years will join a valued alumni and current member of the SAU Board of Trustees and his wife as the 2018 McMullen Award honorees on Sunday, Dec. 2.
Doctors Bea and Paul Jacobson and Joanne and Jef '70 Heckinger will be presented the McMullen Award following a 10:30 a.m. Mass in celebration of the Feast of Saint Ambrose at Christ the King Chapel on Sunday, Dec. 2.
The Most Rev. Thomas Zinkula, JD, JCL, Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport, will preside over the Mass and will bless the McMullen Awards.
Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, president of the university, will confer the awards.
Named in honor of university founder Bishop John McMullen, the McMullen Awards are presented annually to individuals who embody St. Ambrose University's mission of enriching the lives of others.
The public is invited to attend the Mass and award ceremony.
The Heckingers and Jacobsons will join 32 couples or individuals previously honored with a McMullen Award since its introduction in 2006.
The Heckingers have remained active supporters of the university since Jef earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1970. They were active in the creation of the President's Club in 1982 and remain founding members. Jef is an attorney in Rockford, Illinois, and he and Joanne have been financial supporters of the university's Mock Trial program since it was introduced in 2004. The Heckingers also regularly host Admissions events for prospective St. Ambrose students in the Rockford area, and Jef has been present to shake the hands of those students when they graduate.
Jef has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2007 and currently serves on the Building and Grounds Committee.
Bea and Paul Jacobson joined the St. Ambrose College faculty in 1977 and helped strengthen its commitment to a curriculum grounded in the liberal arts as the college transformed to a university. Primarily, Paul was as a professor of Philosophy until his retirement in 2012, but also served as the first dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the founding director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and an associate vice president for academic affairs.
Bea was a professor of English most of her tenure, which ended with her retirement in 2014. She also created and served as the first director of the Women and Gender Studies program and led and orchestrated service trips to Ecuador.
A brief reception will follow the presentation of the McMullen Awards.
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