Defying the Odds Award honoree to speak April 19

After Germany occupied Hungary in 1944, Judy Jacobs (MBA ’77, Ph.D. ’86) and her family were placed in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp when she was seven years old. She lost many loved ones in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. When she and her parents were freed, she was sent off – young, alone and scared – to boarding school while her parents attempted to rebuild their lives. In 1946, Jacobs and her family moved to the United States. Despite everything they had experienced, her parents passed on their belief in the importance of education and Jacobs went on to college. Jacobs came to UMKC to earn her MBA and a Ph.D. in higher education administration and completed her degrees while working and raising a family. Today, Jacobs utilizes her education and her experiences during WWII to teach others about the Holocaust.

For overcoming significant obstacles to achieve her success, Jacobs will be presented with the university’s Defying the Odds Alumni Achievement Award at a campus-wide luncheon recognizing several 2016 outstanding alumni on April 21. She will share her story, Memories of a Child: Life Before, During and After the Holocaust, on April 19 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Room 218 of Bloch Executive Hall, 5108 Cherry Street in Kansas City. Free and open to the public, this speaking engagement is co-sponsored by the UMKC School of Education and Henry W. Bloch School of Management.

For registration and parking information visit umkcalumni.com/jacobs-memories or call 816-235-6173.