FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Three Indiana University alumni will receive IU’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award on Oct. 17, during Homecoming weekend on the Bloomington campus. The award is the highest honor bestowed on IU alumni by the university.
IU President Pamela Whitten will present the awards to 2024 honorees Julie Inskeep, Robert D. Rucker, and Jill S. Waibel, MD.
Recipients of the award are chosen for service and achievement in their fields, and for significant contributions to the community, state, nation, or university. With the addition of these recipients, IU has honored 360 alumni since the award’s inception in 1953.
The following are brief biographies of each award recipient:
Julie Inskeep, BA’72, MSW’74
Julie Inskeep, BA’72, MSW’74, is the president of The Journal Gazette, an independent newspaper, locally owned in Fort Wayne, Ind. since 1863. Her involvement with the newspaper began in 1984 when she joined the editorial board. In 1997, she was named publisher and served in that role until also becoming the president in 2014. She was the chairman of the board of Fort Wayne Newspapers from 1997 until 2020.
Inskeep has been active in the newspaper industry on the state and national level. Her service includes the Associated Press Board, The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) Board, and the NAA Foundation Board. She is a past president of the Hoosier State Press Association and the Inland Press Association, a nonprofit newspaper organization enabling newspapers to continue serving the people as a free, strong, and responsible press.
In 2008, Inskeep was inducted into The Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame. Her work has also been honored with distinguished service awards from the Hoosier State Press Association in 2009, and from the Inland Press Association in 2018. Inskeep has participated in executive training with the Newspaper Management Center at Northwestern University.
Prior to her work in the newspaper industry, Inskeep spent a decade of her career in hospital social work. She has continued her involvement in health and human services with nonprofit volunteer work, including serving as president of The United Way of Allen County (Ind.); The Fort Wayne Community Foundation; Neighborhood Health Clinics; and The Vera Bradley Foundation. Additionally, Inskeep serves on the boards of the Indiana University Foundation (emeritus); The Journal Gazette Foundation; the Fort Wayne Parks Foundation; and Arts United.
Robert D. Rucker, BA’74, LLD’23
The Honorable Robert D. Rucker, BA’74, LLD’23, the 105th justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court in 1999 and served until his retirement in 2017. Rucker grew up in Gary, Ind., working in steel mills to support his college education at Indiana University Northwest. However, his studies were interrupted by his service in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Army. Following his military service, Rucker returned to IU Northwest and later earned a law degree from Valparaiso University.
Before joining the Indiana Supreme Court, Rucker served as a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals and as vice chair of the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education.
During his tenure on the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, Rucker authored over 450 majority opinions and issued over 100 dissents. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he appointed numerous women and lawyers of color to serve on various boards and commissions and consistently hired lawyers of color to serve as law clerks.
Rucker was a deputy prosecuting attorney for Lake County, Ind., and an attorney for the city of Gary. In honor of his lifetime of contributions, the courthouse in downtown Gary was named the Robert D. Rucker Courthouse. He also had a general legal practice in East Chicago, Ind.
His memberships, past and present, include the American Bar Association; Indiana Judges Association; Indiana State Bar Association; James C. Kimbrough Bar Association; and the Marion County (Ind.) Bar Association. He is a fellow of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation and a previous chair of the Lake County Judicial Nominating Commission. He has also served as chair of the National Bar Association’s Judicial Council. His many honors include Valparaiso University’s Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award and being named a Sagamore of the Wabash by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb.
Jill S. Waibel, MD, BS’92
Jill S. Waibel, MD, BS’92, is a world-recognized leader and innovator in dermatologic laser surgery. She is a board-certified dermatologist specializing in medical dermatology, cutaneous laser surgery, and cosmetic dermatology for all ages and practices at the Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute, where she is the medical director and owner.
In addition to her private practice, Waibel is the subsection chief of dermatology at Baptist Hospital of Miami, the medical director of Miami Cancer Institute’s Multidisciplinary Skin Cancer Clinic, and the clinical voluntary assistant professor at the University of Miami. Dr. Waibel leads a robust clinical trial business, Miami Dermatology and Laser Research, which has completed over 150 clinical trials ranging from bench trials to phase I-IV studies. Her research efforts have been instrumental in the development of new lasers in collaboration with leading companies. She has also pioneered the treatment of scars using various advanced modalities.
Waibel is passionate about laser innovation in the treatment of scars and has developed industry-leading procedures and techniques with lasers and adjunct therapies. She has received several awards for her contributions to medicine, and published hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles and textbook chapters. Additionally, she is on the board of the American Society for Lasers Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS) and the medical advisory board of five of the leading laser manufacturers.
Following her passion for laser treatment of burn and trauma scars, Waibel lectures, collaborates with, and trains military physicians and does close personal work with wounded warriors and their families. She founded Restoring Heroes, a multidisciplinary support group providing medical care to veterans and 9/11 survivors.
Her awards and recognitions include “Person of the Week” on ABC World News Tonight in 2015; the 2017 ASLMS Leadership, Mentorship, and Public Advocacy for Women in Medical Science Award; an Excellence in Medicine award given by Former United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop; and the 2016 Journal of Drugs in Dermatology Humanitarian Award for her work using lasers to treat patients with traumatic burn injuries.
The IU Alumni Association is a global alumni organization that brings more than 790,000 IU graduates together to support one another and Indiana University throughout their lives.
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