Page 26 - Southern Oregon Magazine Winter 2020

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AWARDSWARDS

SOU

PROFESSOR AWARDED FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP

outhern Oregon University criminology and criminal jus-
Stice professor Alison Burke has been awarded a Fulbright
scholarship to lecture and teach a course on women and crime
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a four-month teaching assignment
at the University of Sarajevo beginning February 2020.
Fulbrights (awarded yearly by the U.S. Department of State’s
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs since 1948) are
among the most prestigious scholarships in academia. Burke’s
award is the third for an SOU faculty member in three years,
and SOU’s 18th. “Living and working in Bosnia and Herzegovina
will be a phenomenal learning experience and I look forward to
returning to SOU with new international connections, deeper
cultural appreciation and a fresh perspective I can share with
my students,” Burke says. She has been an SOU faculty member
for 11 years and teaches Introduction to Criminology, Theories
of Criminal Behavior, Crime Control Theories and Policies,
and Juvenile Delinquency – and a seminar series that includes
a segment on women and crime. Her research interests include
gender and juvenile justice, and delinquency prevention.
www.SOU.edu

JESSICA GOMEZ

STATE HEALTHCARE COMMITTEE

essica Gomez, CEO of Medford-based Rogue Valley
JMicrodevices and previous State Senate candidate,
was recently appointed to the Oregon State Healthcare
Committee by Governor Kate Brown. The goal of the
committee is to curb the rising costs of healthcare.
Curbing costs and healthcare are both topics that Gomez
is passionate about, so this committee fits her perfectly.

Gomez is a woman CEO in the male dominated tech industry.
She is Latina and grew up in a family who had a very difficult
time making ends meet. They were homeless at one point in
her teens. Gomez built her company, alongside her husband,
with very little money doing all of the work themselves. She
is proud to serve Oregon from a standpoint of both a business
owner and someone who can relate to financial struggles.

24 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | winter 2020