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A St. Lawrence graduate recently received an Outstanding Service Award from the Air Force, the first such award ever given.

E. Jeanne Jenkins '68, Slingerlands, NY, received the Outstanding Service Award from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) detachment. The award recognizes an individual or organization for providing exceptional support to the AFROTC, and for helping it fulfill its mission to cultivate leaders for the Air Force.

Jenkins is the first recipient of the award. Colonel James DeAngelo Jr., chair of the university's department of Aerospace Studies and commander of the AFROTC detachment, presented the recognition on behalf of Brigadier General Paul Hankins, commander of Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools, at a surprise ceremony at Rensselaer's Admissions Building.

Jenkins, who joined the Rensselaer staff in 1979, has held various positions in the university's office of Enrollment Management (formerly the Office of Admissions) throughout her career, and currently serves as director of enrollment planning. For more than 10 years, she has promoted Rensselaer's AFROTC as an option for prospective students, and subsequently helped the detachment recruit countless numbers of them.

"Without a doubt, no other member of the local community has contributed to the success of Air Force ROTC at Rensselaer the way Jeanne has," said Captain Kerry L. Strait, commandant of cadets at Rensselaer and organizer of the award. "She's been an incredibly outspoken advocate for the program, and very supportive of the military in general."

Jenkins earned her bachelor's degree in history at St. Lawrence. Her husband E. Kent Jenkins, an Air Force Vietnam veteran, is also a '68 graduate, and their daughters Caroline Jenkins '98 and Kelly Renaud '96 also graduated from St. Lawrence.

Posted: December 19, 2002