Amazing Alumna:

Jacki Lyden, ‘75 Arts & Sciences

Current life role: Senior Correspondent, Alternate Host, National Public Radio

Since 1979, Lyden has taken us to the farthest corners of the world via her reports for National Public Radio. From Northern Ireland to Kuwait, from “Ground Zero” after 9/11 to Iraq, Lyden’s insightful reporting has given us a more complete understanding of the people and events of our times.

Recently, Lyden was back in Iraq, talking with Christians who comprise a small minority with little voice in the current government. They are fighting for their homelands and the right to worship freely. As with so many of her radio reports, Lyden reminded us in this piece that people the world over are not so different.

Growing the mind

A Christ College scholar while at Valpo, Lyden says she was enthralled by the broad liberal arts subject matter she studied daily in CC. "I felt very empowered, like I had found a home for my mind," she says. "It was really a heady experience. I didn't feel restricted or fettered there."

Lyden also says her Valpo experience fostered a strong belief that attaining a successful career and material goods were not a true measure of wealth. "The atmosphere at VU has always been that success isn't just measured in material terms, but that it has a lot to do with the spirit and one's humanity,” Lyden says.

Taking home top honors

By any standard, Lyden has achieved professional success, having shared a prestigious Peabody Award for her role in NPR’s coverage of 9/11 and a Gracie Award for a documentary she produced about Palestinian and Israeli families dealing with death and grief. Lyden also has published a best-selling memoir, “Daughter of the Queen of Sheba,” and has a second work, “Vox Babylonia,” on the way.