Jean Robinson, associate executive dean of College of Arts and Sciences, receives Provost's Medal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel has presented the Provost's Medal to Jean Robinson, a political scientist who has served the campus in many roles, currently as associate executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Robel presented the medal at the annual College of Arts and Sciences Awards Dinner on March 4. First given in 1997, it recognizes outstanding service that builds and enhances the impact of Indiana University.
“Jean is an absolutely stellar academic and administrator,” Robel said, “and a common theme runs throughout the whole of her career -- namely that she has consistently focused her vast talents and intellect on bettering the lives of others and ensuring that promising young people have access to the best educational opportunities possible. In this sense, she has been the very definition of a leader on the Bloomington campus. She has led by example, and she has inspired so many others to dedicate themselves to the educational mission that is at the heart of Indiana University.”
Robinson has served as associate executive dean of the College since 2011 and as an IU faculty member for over 35 years.
She served as founding coordinator and director of women’s studies at IU Bloomington from 1977 to 1982 and dean of women’s affairs from 1998 to 2003. In the College of Arts and Sciences, she has been associate dean for faculty and academic programs and associate dean for undergraduate education as well as associate executive dean. She was interim dean of the Hutton Honors College and director of the Leadership, Ethics and Social Action program.
As a scholar, Robinson has published widely on education policy, gender and inequality, and other topics. She began her academic career as a specialist on contemporary Chinese politics but more recently has published on inequality in school finance, marriage equality and gender, and information technology.
She was a founding member of the Research Network on Gender, Politics and the State and has led and served on various committees regarding women in research for the Committee for Institutional Cooperation and other organizations. She has been awarded three National Science Foundation grants as well as National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright and Spencer Foundation funding.
As a teacher, she has directed more than 40 dissertations, more than two-thirds of which were by female Ph.D. candidates and two of which won national awards for outstanding research. She was instrumental in the College’s creation in 2008 of Themester, a campus-wide themed semester program.
She has received the IU President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, the George Pinnell Distinguished Service Award and eight other teaching and service awards.
The Provost's Medal is cast in silver and depicts the IU Bloomington Student Building, the tree of knowledge and the Indiana landscape on one side, and Showalter Fountain on the other. Originally called the Chancellor's Medallion, it was first given in 1997. It was renamed the Provost's Medal in 2006. A list of previous recipients is online.
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Deborah Galyan
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Office 812-855-5265
- dgalyan@indiana.edu