Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2020

Distinguished Young Alumna: Jennifer Howell ’09 Jennifer Howell is an assistant professor of psychological sciences at the University of California, Merced, and principal investigator at the Merced Experimental Social and Health Psychology Laboratory, where she conducts groundbreaking research on the intersection of social psychology and health. Howell is particularly interested in how processes surrounding the self (e.g., defensiveness and social comparison) influence health decision-making and behavior. She has published an astounding 39 peer-reviewed journal articles and serves as section editor of the journal Social and Personality Psychology Compass , a rare honor for an untenured junior professor. Her work has been featured in a number of nationalmedia outlets, including the NewYorkTimes , National PublicRadio, and the Wall Street Journal . Howell frequently sits on career and graduate-school panels for the Southwestern Psychology Department and volunteers as part of a student mentorship program that pairs students with graduates in their chosen career field. Distinguished Southwestern Service: AllisonDickson ’02 When Allison Dickson was 15 months old, she was diagnosed with Werdnig–Hoffmann disease, the most severe form of spinal muscular atrophy, and given a year to live. Today, she is a respected philanthropist well-known throughout her community and across the state for her positivity, faith, and determination. Dickson, who graduated first in her class fromBaylor Law School, has created and fully endowed three scholarships inCentral Texas: the AllisonDickson Delta Delta Delta Scholarship at Southwestern University, the Allison Dickson Baylor Law Scholarship, and theAllisonDicksonTemple ProudScholarship at TempleHighSchool. After graduating summa cumlaude from Southwestern, she became a class giving officer, a role she continues to hold, and served on the 2010 Strategic Planning Committee. Dickson also is on the class committee for the class of 2002 and advocates for Southwestern on her social-media channels, serving as a social-media ambassador. Distinguished Young Alumnus: Jackson Bird ’12 Jackson Bird is a writer and digital creator dedicated to demystifying the transgender experience by sharing his and others’ stories online. After leaving Southwestern, Bird started volunteering for theHarryPotter Alliance, a nonprofit that uses the power of story tomobilize fan communities toward social action. The role turned into a full-time position as communications director, and Bird helped lead the organization on issues such as economic inequality, net neutrality, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigration reform, and mental health. Bird launched his YouTube channel in 2010 and came out publicly as transgender in one of his videos in 2015. His 2017TEDTalk, “How toTalk (and Listen) toTrans People,” has been viewedmore than 1.5million times. Bird is a 2018GLAAD Rising Star Digital Innovator, a YouTube NextUp Creator, and a Logo TV Social Trailblazer nominee. In 2019, he released his first book, Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place (A Transgender Memoir) . Distinguished Humanitarian: Amit Virmani ’95 Amit Virmani is a filmmaker and entrepreneur who currently leads Alo VR, a virtual-reality company thatworks to improve the health andwell-being of older adults. Virmani doublemajored in business andwomen’s studies at Southwestern. His interest in feminismandmicroeconomics in developing nations fueled his motivation to produce and direct two critically acclaimed documentaries, Cowboys in Paradise (2009) and Menstrual Man (2013). Cowboys in Paradise explores the phenomenon of gender role reversal in the sex trade on the beaches of Bali and generated international press coverage for highlighting the exploitative aspects of tourism. Menstrual Man is an engaging account of a social entrepreneur whose invention empowered women across rural India to manufacture low-cost sanitary pads. Virmani and his coproducer used the filmas a platformto generate employment forwomen in Indian villages. In 2017, Virmani was nominated for a UNWomen HeForShe Everyday Hero Award. 37 SOUTHWESTERN