Victor Hugo once wrote, “There is in every village a torch—the teacher.” And judging by the sticky notes from admiring students covering Jackie Greene’s door in the COE, she is that torch.

The challenge and the mission of teaching are what have driven Dr. Greene’s career since she began teaching elementary school in 1971. Now as a college professor, she knows she will wake to a challenge each morning and she loves that. Her students deepen her life. They help her grow. She has taken them to foreign countries and encouraged them when times get tough. And she has seen the light go on their eyes as new worlds of knowledge are unlocked within them.

To Jackie Greene, education is society’s great equalizer. When the student uses the skills the teacher offers, the student becomes equal to the teacher, and the teaching becomes a living entity that perpetuates in society. And that, she feels, is what changes lives and builds a society. As she says, “Impacting human lives is a huge responsibility and joy, but that’s what teachers do. We rectify inequality. By supporting inclusion and diversity, we commit to being advocates and social agents for all.”