The following announcement was written by the College of Arts and Sciences:
Each year, the College of Arts and Sciences honors alumni who have made exceptional contributions to their fields and to the lives of others. A ceremony for the 2017 winners will be held during Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 5–8, 2017.
Distinguished Service Alumnus of the Year
Chris Hook (CAS ’03, GRS ’04) is a budget analyst with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where he oversees funding for homeless assistance grants, lead abatement programs and Community Development Block Grants, among others. Prior to joining HUD, he spent 12 years with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), holding various positions in the Justice Management Division’s budget staff, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Security Division. He first entered government service as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow.
Hook earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science, and he has been active in the alumni community at both the local and national levels. He is president of the D.C./Baltimore chapter of the Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University, and he is in his sixth year as a member of the association’s board of directors. In addition, he is an Alumni Admission Ambassador.
A strong advocate for LGBT individuals, Hook was recently elected president of CWRU Pride, the university’s LGBT alumni network. He has also led two LGBT organizations for federal employees; he is the current president of HUD FedQ and a former president of DOJ Pride.
Distinguished Young Alumna of the Year
Jacqueline Greene (CAS ’07, LAW ’11) is a partner at the Cleveland law firm Friedman & Gilbert, where her practice focuses on civil rights and criminal justice issues. Greene litigates cases involving police and correctional misconduct, including use of excessive force, illegal seizures and denial of medical care for prisoners. In addition, she provides criminal defense representation in federal, state and municipal courts.
As co-coordinator of the Ohio Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Greene leads efforts to protect protesters’ First Amendment rights. She recruits and trains pro bono criminal defense lawyers to defend demonstrators, takes on such cases herself and trains observers who monitor law enforcement conduct at demonstrations. Greene is also vice president of the Ohio Innocence Project’s Northeast Ohio Board of Advocates, which supports OIP’s exoneration work across Ohio and promotes community education concerning wrongful convictions.
Greene earned her bachelor’s degree in political science. Before joining Friedman & Gilbert, she worked in the field of international human rights, serving on prosecution and defense teams in war crimes trials of former leaders of Cambodia and Liberia and supporting international development and access-to-justice projects for the International Bar Association, American Bar Association and public health organizations in Southern Africa.
Photo of Jacqueline Greene by Keli Schimelpfenig. All other photos courtesy of their subjects.