Alpha Xi Delta Announces Woman of Distinction Award Recipients
Alpha Xi Delta is proud to announce Bette Sachs Horstman, Dr. Robin Lock and April Carter are recipients of Alpha Xi Delta’s Woman of Distinction Award. This distinction goes to alumnae members who provide outstanding service to their communities, attain eminent achievement within their profession and are widely recognized within their field.
Bette Sachs Horstman
Bette was initiated into the Alpha Epsilon Chapter in 1941 as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. After graduating from the University of Michigan and the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, she enlisted in the US Army Medical Corps physical therapy branch during World War 2 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant - a position that outranked her male counterparts. Bette served overseas for two years in the South Pacific and was the only Physical Therapist on the island of Saipan. While there, her duties included training men to assist in physical therapy. She served in the 22nd station hospital, 147th General hospital. Bette received the Meritorious Service Unit Citation with 1 Star, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal and World War II Victory Medal for her service.
Once discharged from the Army, Bette chartered the first Physical Therapy department at Resurrection Hospital in Chicago. She went on to serve as chief Physical Therapist at both Holy Cross Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital. After leaving St. Joseph Hospital, Bette became the first female physical therapist in Illinois to start a private practice.
Beginning in 1955, Bette was an active member in the American Physical Therapy Association for 68 years, participating in the Prime Times group and Section on Geriatrics. She attended all APTA conferences for 40 years and contributed to their scholarship fund for future therapists.
Bette was the first Physical Therapy Consultant for both the city of Chicago and Catholic Charities. She has served as the President of the National Association of Rehabilitation Agencies as well as President and Chief Delegate of the Illinois Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association. She has served as both President and Director of the APTA Section on Geriatrics as well as president of Allied Health Services. In addition to all of this, Bette served as the Illinois Delegate to the 1981 White House Conference on Aging, was a Director of the American Heart Association from 1987-1990 and has authored a Chapter on Rehab in Home Health and Rehabilitation. She also served as President and Program Co-Chair of the Mayo Clinic Physical Therapy Alumni Association. She has an impressive collection of national awards and accolades and has been interviewed as a World War 2 Veteran for the Library of Congress.
Serving as an Army Medical Corps officer, she established and lead hospital physical therapy departments and formed the first private practice in Illinois. Her leadership and advocacy in her field and at a local, state and national level have been recognized through her election and appointment to offices, boards and task forces nation-wide.
Dr. Robin Lock
Robin joined the Beta Alpha Chapter at The University of Texas at Austin in 1974. Her time as a volunteer at the Austin State School ignited her interest in special education and helped develop an understanding and an interest in people with disabilities. She went on to receive her Bachelor's, Master’s and Ph.D. in special education and learning disabilities. After completing her education, she served as Chapter Advisor for the Beta Alpha Chapter from 1987-1996.
Robin played an instrumental role in the development of the Burkhart Center for Autism Education and Research in Lubbock, Texas, on the campus of Texas Tech University. She served as the institution's director between 2001 to 2009. While still serving in her role as Professor of Special Education, Dr. Lock has also taken on additional administrative duties. First as the Associate Dean of Graduate Education and Research in the College of Education at Texas Tech and now serving as the College’s Vice Dean. She is a leader in her field and has dedicated her career to improving the quality of life for individuals and families affected by autism spectrum disorders.
As a distinguished member of her community, Robin has authored and co-authored numerous articles in scholarly journals addressing the needs and educational endeavors of those impacted by autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities. She has served on multiple advisory boards with numerous professional journals and has also co-authored a widely utilized textbook on the assessment of special needs.
Using her expertise to educate her community, she is the host of the Lubbock Independent school district’s CBI Worknet weekly television program. She is frequently sought by the media to share her expertise on topics relating to special education, youth in the foster care system, and local, state and national education trends.
April Carter
April joined the Beta Alpha Chapter at the University of Texas at Austin in 1994. She then went on to receive her law degree from Southern Methodist University Law School. With degree in hand, she quickly achieved her dream of becoming a Dallas County District Attorney and has spent the last eighteen years supporting justice, law and human rights.
Through April’s work and experiences in Dallas, she felt compelled to make a difference in the international community and relocated to the Netherlands to work at The Hague. She has been practicing law there for the past eleven years.
April explains, “Over the subsequent years, I have had the opportunity to serve my local and international community. In Texas, I served hundreds of children who were subject to abuse and neglect at the hand of their parents. That compassion and training set the stage for my service to the people of the former Yugoslavia.”
April has served as a trial attorney with the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She has represented the office of the prosecutor at both trial and appeal and in project management cases involving command responsibility of the highest military, police and political leaders indicted for war crimes. Some well-known leaders she has personally prosecuted are Milutinovic et al, Perisic, Stanisic and Simatovic, Mladic and Prilic et al. She specializes in cases that relate to the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo, the shelling of Zagreb, the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica genocide. She now serves the international community as the Co-Registrar of the Iran-United States Claim Tribunal, an arbitration court established to resolve the crisis in relations between Iran and the United States.
About Alpha Xi Delta
Founded in 1893 at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois, Alpha Xi Delta is one of the oldest women's fraternal organizations in the United States. With more than 175,000 initiated members, Alpha Xi Delta is a progressive organization dedicated to the personal growth of women. For more information on Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity, visit www.alphaxidelta.org.
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Contact:
Lauren Felts
Director of Communications and Marketing
Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity
317.872.3500 x122