Dr. Jane E.lucas was born in Waseca to Ken and Mary Ellen Sill Lucas and was a 1963 graduate of Waseca High School. She is a global citizen who has made numerous contributions to child and adolescent health in underdeveloped countries.
Jane received her undergraduate degree from Macalester College in St. Paul. Her Master’s Degree was earned at Columbia University (with Union Theological Seminary). She was awarded a Ph.D. at New York University in 1984 in Social Psychology.
Jane spent several years early in her career at IBM gaining valuable experience in the development of educational materials that would pay off later in public health education.
Jane married Craig Kuehl who like Jane has a mobile, international career. They now live in Turkey after stops in Mexico, Tunisia, Geneva, South Africa, and Cyprus.
Since 1988, Jane has focused on public health – beginning with the Family Planning Association of Turkey. She has held posts at the World Health Organization and currently consults to WHO, UNICEF, and USAID.
Her expertise is in designing training and supervisory materials, interventions and methods to help families promote the healthy development of children and improve the care of children at risk for malnutrition, poor health and delayed development.
Jane developed training materials to launch antiretroviral HIV treatments in Africa. She produced guidelines for counseling mothers and behavioral research on infant feeding and HIV/AIDS conducted by the Medical Research Council in South Africa.
That work was documented in 2007 by Lancet, one of the world’s foremost medical research journals.
It is hard to estimate the lives improved or saved in poor countries through Jane’s dedication and expertise.
Dr. Bernadette Daelmansm, Medical Officer of WHO says this about Jane: “She excels in development, but she is also an outstanding implementer. Many colleagues in the field know her and are excited when Jane makes her way to their countries to provide technical assistance to introduce a new tool, build capacity for implementation, conduct a program review or lead a health facility survey.”
Waseca is proud to extend the Alumni Achievement Award to Jane Lucas, the citizen of the world.
