UA educator gets president’s Lifetime Achievement award for service
by February 9, 2017 9:13 am 181 views
University of Arkansas School of Law faculty member Janie Simms Hipp has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Corporation for National and Community Service, the UA announced Thursday (Feb. 9).
Hipp, director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative in the law school, was recognized for her work in addressing nutritional and educational needs of Native Americans across North America and specifically her work with the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma.
President’s Volunteer Service Awards are given to children, adults and groups who accumulate a certain number of volunteer hours over a 12-month period. The corporation gives bronze, silver and gold awards based on the hours worked, and the highest honor, the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, is given to those who contribute more than 4,000 hours of service in their lifetime, according to the President’s Volunteer Service Award website.
The prize, awarded and signed by President Barack Obama in the fall of 2016, was presented to Hipp in January by corporation officials.
“Janie has dedicated her life to expanding opportunities for Native Americans around the country,” Max Finberg, former director of AmeriCorps VISTA, said in a UA press release. “Inspired by those who have come before her, she continues to invest in the next generation of Native leaders through the Tribal Youth Summit and otherwise. I am grateful for the chance I had to work with her to improve life throughout Indian Country. She is a shining exa
mple of a servant leader and someone deserving of this recognition.”
Hipp is an attorney and graduate of the UA law school in agricultural and food law, the nation’s first advanced law degree program in agricultural and food law, according to the UA.
She is the founder of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Tribal Relations in the Office of the Secretary, and she served two terms on the agency’s Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers. She also served on two delegations to the United Nations in the areas of women’s issues and indigenous issues.
“It’s hard to imagine anyone who has done more to empower the next generation of leaders in tribal agriculture than Janie,” Stacy Leeds, dean of the law school, said in the release. “Her dedication and tireless commitment to mentoring and developing others is inspiring.”