By Karen Chambless

Dr. Donna Summerlin, professor of English at Lee University, has been named the winner of the 2015 Janet Rahamut Award.

The Janet Rahamut Award is given in recognition to the faculty member that exhibits the most heart for students evidenced by frequent interaction and positive involvement with them outside of the classroom.

The award is named in memory of Dr. Janet Rahamut, a veteran English professor whose tragic death in 2000 shocked the campus and left a tremendous void in the collective heart of the Lee family. The award was created to honor Rahamut’s dedication to her students, in and out of the classroom.

“Donna Summerlin was a close personal friend as well as colleague of Janet Rahamut, but more than that, she embodies much of Janet’s spirit in her desire to sacrificially serve students,” said Dr. Jean Eledge, chair of the Department of Language and Literature. “She has invested in Lee as a professor who loves students for 27 years.”

A graduate of Lee’s English program (1970), Summerlin earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1995, after earning a Master of Education (1978) and a Master of Arts (1992) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her specializations include American and Southern literature and ethnic literatures, including Appalachian literature, young adult literature, and literary theory. Her dissertation focused on the Appalachian woman as an artist in the fiction of six Appalachian woman authors.

In 2003, Summerlin received the Excellence in Advising Award. She also received fellowships from the Appalachian College Association from 1992-93 and 1993-94.

Summerlin regularly leads two cross-cultural trips to New England and around the Southern United States. She has incorporated community involvement and service learning in her Multi-Ethnic U. S. Literature class in 2011 and in her Young Adult Literature and Introduction to English Studies classes during the 2014-15 terms.

The recipient of the Janet Rahamut Award is chosen by a student committee chaired by the Student Leadership Council chairperson and sponsored by the Vice President for Student Development.

“Dr. Summerlin consistently demonstrates the spirit and the criteria of the Janet Rahamut Award and is a worthy recipient of it,” said Eledge. “She exemplifies Christian principles daily through her life of personal character and integrity, and contributes in strong and positive ways to the lives of students on this campus.”

Summerlin and her husband Terry have two sons and three grandchildren. She teaches a Sunday school class and plays in the worship band at The Crossing Church in Chattanooga.