Leadership Tri-County named a long-time University of the Cumberlands administrator as its 2026 Leader of the Year.
U.C. Chancellor Dr. Jerry Jackson received the 2026 Willam Hacker, M.D. Leader of the Year Award during a banquet Thursday evening at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center.
The award is the highest honor bestowed by Leadership Tri-County. It recognizes individuals who not only lead within their own institutions but also serve as “regional connectors” across county lines.
“I would like to thank Lee Richardson and the board of Leadership Tri-County for this honor. It truly means a great deal to me,” Jackson said. “I am truly honored, especially coming from a community of leaders, who care deeply about this region and the people, who call it home.”
“I stand here knowing something very important. No one becomes a leader on their own. If there is anything worthy of recognition in my life, it is because someone else invested in me first.”
Jackson also thanked Tammy Smith, a colleague and local realtor, who submitted his name for the award.
Leadership Tri-County is a non-profit organization established in 1987 as an educational program designed to identify potential, emerging, and current leaders from Knox, Laurel and Whitley counties and to nurture their continued development into the leaders our area needs now and in the future.
Past recipients of the Leader of the Year Award have included: Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus, Razmus’ mother, Nelda Barton-Collings, U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Terry Forcht, Gene Huff, Michael Colegrove, Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley, John Bill Keck, Marcia Dixon, Jane Rice Williams and Eugene Siler Jr., a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
As a first-generation college student from Appalachia, Jackson devoted his career to advancing college affordability and access. UC was recently recognized with the Torch Award for Excellence in Affordability by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which is a regional accreditation body.
Beyond campus, Jackson remains committed to public service. He has served for more than two decades on the Baptist Health board, has served on the Governor’s Scholars committee, and has held numerous church leadership roles.
He has taught at both undergraduate and doctoral levels, presented at national workshops, and earned recognition from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Jackson earned degrees from Union College (BA), Eastern Kentucky University (MA), and University of the Cumberlands (EdD, PhD).
“I have been blessed with strong leaders and strong influencers throughout my life. Teachers and mentors, who challenged me, stretched me, and saw more in me than I can see in myself,” Jackson said. “My parents instilled in us a simple expectation that you will build a better life than the one we gave you.”
“For me, education was the catalyst that changed everything. It opened doors I never knew existed and helped me see a future larger than anything I had imagined for myself. It did more than give me knowledge. It gave me possibility. Somewhere along the way I realized the greatest way to honor the people, who invested in me, was to invest in others. That belief became more than a profession. It became my life’s calling.”
Jackson said if he leaves any legacy, he hopes it is that he saw possibility in people before they saw it themselves, spoke courage into their lives, and helped them rise to become more than they imagined.
“This award belongs to every person, who ever believed in me. I am grateful and I will continue to pay that investment forward. We live in a moment when tearing down is loud and building up is rare. Let us be the rare ones. Let us be leaders, who call out greatness and help others rise,” he added.
(Editor’s Note: University of the Cumberlands Communications and Marketing contributed to this article.)
