In Brief: Laboratory Professional of the Year directs education grant toward Texas State

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
June 2, 2017

Texas State University has received a $25,000 educational grant, courtesy of Jennifer Dawson, the 2017 Cardinal Health urEssential Laboratory Professional of the Year.

The urEssential Laboratory Professional of the Year award recognizes the essential contributions medical laboratory professionals make to patient care. In addition to national recognition, Cardinal Health provides a $25,000 educational grant to the award recipient's choice institution of higher learning. Dawson’s grant will go to Texas State to support students pursuing careers in clinical laboratory science.

Remarkably, Dawson, the senior director of Quality for Human Longevity, Inc., in San Diego and affiliate faculty at Regis University in Denver, has no direct connection to Texas State. In a letter to Rodney Rohde, Texas State's Clinical Laboratory Science program chair, Dawson explained that she has worked with many Texas State CLS graduates over the years and was impressed with their education and training. Directing the education grant to Texas State was her way of supporting the university's outstanding CLS program.

“As a passionate advocate of the laboratory and its role in providing quality care and the highest level of patient safety, I’m humbled and honored to be recognized with this prestigious laboratory award,” Dawson said. “I hope this spreads awareness of the impactful work being done by medical laboratory professionals and inspires others to pursue a career in this rewarding field.”

For more information on the Cardinal Health urEssential Award program, and to learn more about Dawson and the five distinguished professionals selected as 2017 finalists, visit www.cardinalhealth.com/urEssential.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,849 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 170,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world.  Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities:  Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.