Students at Baker University are known for being involved in numerous activities outside of the classroom, but some faculty members such as Lowell Jacobsen, Rhodes Professor of International Business, are also not bashful to branch out.

On Dec. 13, Jacobsen received the Mike Wood Presidential Citation of Merit to honor the work he’s done for Kansas City’s International Relations Council.

“I’ve served on the IRC’s board for 12 years and this has marked my last and final term,” Jacobsen said.

In addition to serving on the board, Jacobsen has also served on several committees for the organization, which has a mission of spreading global awareness across the greater Kansas City area.

“It’s always really good to see a colleague’s work away from campus be recognized as well,” Kevin McCarthy, professor of business and economics, said. “It’s something that we don’t ever have enough opportunity to do.”

Most notably, Jacobsen has also been a steward of the two endowments of the IRC for the past 11 years.

“It has been very rewarding to have the opportunity to help with the endowments,” Jacobsen said. “They’ve grown about 7 percent on an annual basis over the years and just recently doubled due to a gift from the recently passed Dr. Berkley, the founder of the organization.”

Jacobsen’s involvement in the IRC has also opened up opportunities for Baker students.

“Baker has been a university member of the IRC for several years now and that’s going to continue,” Jacobsen said. “Lyn Lakin, our vice president for development, is in fact representing Baker on the board now that I’ve gone off and I’m delighted that we’ve got that continuity.”

Because Baker is a member of the IRC, all Baker students gain free entry to many events hosted by the IRC. McCarthy said he has often taken students to these events.

“The opportunities for students from the IRC are really interesting,” McCarthy said. “I think the organization has sort of been on an upward trend and that is no doubt partly due to [Jacobsen’s] contributions.”

Many students and fellow colleagues came to support Jacobsen as he received the citation of merit.

“I got invited and obviously wanted to go because he’s a great professor,” senior Sam Vossen said. “He has a really extensive international background and I know he does a lot of work with the IRC so he definitely deserved this.”

Jacobsen said the award meant even more to him because his colleagues, students and members of the IRC executive council attended the event with him.

While Jacobsen will take a step back from the IRC, he will also be stepping toward another organization known as the International Trade Council.

“What I will be doing is going onto the ITC’s board,” Jacobsen said. “This group is more focused on international business in Kansas City and I’ve been a member for a long time and I see this as another avenue for me to work on behalf of Baker.”