Jenny Robinson Puckett (’71)

By Nathan O. Hatch
February 18, 2016

Though Jenny Robinson Puckett retired from teaching at Wake Forest in 2013, she never really left. Her vast contributions in the classroom and across the country on behalf of Wake Forest set her apart to be honored as one of this year’s Medallion of Merit recipients.

In the late 1960s, Mrs. Puckett enrolled as a student at Wake Forest. After holding a few teaching jobs, she returned to her alma mater and the scene of her youth to teach Spanish to undergraduate students. For several years, she offered her time to her profession and worked with the Educational Testing Service on the Advanced Placement Spanish Language Exam.

At Wake Forest, Mrs. Puckett was a beloved instructor in the classroom and an enthusiastic contributor to student life. Students selected her as the faculty advisor of Chi Omega sorority; at the request of the Student Union, she offered a Last Lecture; and she continues to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Traditions Council. As a faithful Demon Deacon fan, she never misses an opportunity to cheer on students competing for the Old Gold and Black.

But Mrs. Puckett’s love for Wake Forest is never more fully on display than when she tells us the stories of our shared past. One of her greatest research interests is the history of Wake Forest. She unearthed and gave us the story of our 10th president, Harold Tribble, who was charged with relocating our campus to Winston-Salem. She once taught a class about modern Wake Forest history where she invited the giants in our story to meet her students. She is currently working on a massive open online course sponsored by Z. Smith Reynolds Library about Wake Forest history. And her historian status has grown legendary as she travels from coast to coast, telling alumni, parents and friends at Wake Will campaign events about the people, places and circumstances that have made the community of Wake Forest what it is today.

In gratitude for her years of dedication and enthusiasm as a lecturer of Romantic Languages, her loving support of her students, and her gift of storytelling that unites generations of Wake Foresters in the spirit of Pro Humanitate, Wake Forest University confers its highest honor, the Medallion of Merit, upon Mrs. Jenny Robinson Puckett on this Eighteenth day of February, Two Thousand Sixteen.