Jackson Brightens the Landscape for Better Relations

Joe Jackson, Duke's assistant director for grounds and sanitation, has left his imprint all over town.

Jackson, a landscape architect, serves as an unpaid consultant for Durham public schools and other community organizations in need of landscaping advice.

He also works with youngsters in Duke's ComprehensiveSickleCell Center, leads Earth Month events in the city and recycling and conservation efforts on campus, and serves on citizens' planning committees.

"He's always -- 'How can I help?'" said David Stein, education liaison for Duke's Office of Community Affairs, who has witnessed Jackson's work as a Big Brother, a mentor for minority high school students pursuing health care professions, and more. Jackson has earned a reputation as a go-to guy among all sorts of nonprofits and individuals, Stein said.

On Thursday, Jackson received the 2005 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Service Award, which recognizes Duke faculty or staff for exceptional qualities of service, character and spirituality and their practical application to daily life.

Nomination letters poured in from service organizations that have benefited from Jackson's assistance, including the Durham Rescue Mission, Residential Home for Abused Women, Habitat for Humanity and Genesis Home, a sheltering environment that helps homeless families get on their feet. Letters also came from sometimes thankless but important public policy committees, such as the Durham City/County Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee and the Triangle J Council of Government Clean Cities Coalition.

Jackson has devoted much time to the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, which takes priorities identified by residents who live near campus and leverages university resources to help address those needs, said Sam Miglarese, chairman of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award committee at Duke.

"Joe 'gets' the Neighborhood Partnership and was helping people in the Crest Street neighborhood -- anybody that would call him -- long before there was any formal relationship," Miglarese said. "He'd be out there on Saturdays."

For instance, Jackson designed the new landscaping at the St. James Family Life Center in Walltown, where Centex Construction Co. is coordinating extensive pro bono work.

"(Joe) was very complete and thorough and took a lot of time to make it right, not just get it done," said the Rev. Luther Brooks, minister at St. James Baptist Church. "He's helped us make this place look its best and it was a pleasure to be in his company."

The 11-year Duke employee, husband and father of two said he is grateful that Duke encourages him to engage with the community. And he credits his mother for instilling in him the importance of volunteering. "As long as I can remember, I've felt a responsibility to do for those less fortunate," said the Winston-Salem native. "I just hope I'm helping make the world a better place for folks tomorrow."

Of all of his work, volunteering with the Sickle Cell program ranks very high, because he knows how devastating illness can be to families, he said. His oldest brother was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 15 and died when he was 30.

"I saw first-hand all the hardship he encountered trying to deal with it when he was young," Jackson said. "My family didn't know a lot about epilepsy. In my community, they said my brother was having fits. I learned that it's important to be informed about an illness and to get the right information and support."

The New York Southern Society established the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Service Award in 1925 in memory of a Southerner who became a prominent lawyer, businessman and philanthropist in New York. Duke reinstated the award in 2003 after a decades-long hiatus, joining several other southern universities in presenting it to recognize those who exhibit distinction in their profession and outstanding community service.