By Joan C. McKinney, director, Office of University Communications

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Jane Wheatley, who has been employed at Taylor Regional Hospital in Campbellsville 43 years becoming chief executive in February 2003, is the 2020 community recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award given by Campbellsville University.

Dr. H. Keith Spears, interim president of Campbellsville University, presented the award, along with Dr. Donna Hedgepath, provost and vice president for academic affairs, to Wheatley who received a framed certificate, a statue and a book titled The Sullivan Legacy.

Spears said, “It is evident that Jane Wheatley is a very deserving recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Leadership Award for 2020 - given her exemplary record as a Christian servant leader working to improve opportunity and quality of life for all and representing her alma mater, Campbellsville University, with dignity and grace in all areas of her life.”

He said Campbellsville University was selected in 2002 to participate in this very prestigious awards program that honors the memory and legacy of the late Algernon Sydney Sullivan. There are some 70 colleges and universities in the South that are approved by the Sullivan Foundation to annually present these awards to one graduating senior and to one adult from the community.

“Campbellsville University works to transform the lives of our students and to help them become Christian servant leaders,” Spears said.

“There are numerous examples of men and women on our campus who are serving this community and world.”

Rebekah Mobley, who graduated in May 2020, and is a student at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, is the student recipient of the award.

Wheatley is a 1995 graduate of Campbellsville College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Administration. She is a member of the university's Board of Trustees.

Wheatley is a Fellow with American College of Healthcare Executives and has extensive education and training in the healthcare field.

She is involved in several community activities and serves on the board of the Economic Development Authority and has been a member of Campbellsville University Board of Trustees since 2011.

She is also a member of Rotary, a charter member of the Campbellsville/Taylor County Leadership Program and a past president of the Chamber of Commerce.

Wheatley was honored with the 2003 and 2019 Woman of Achievement Award from Campbellsville Business and Professional Women and with the 2006 Citizen of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce.

She is the American Hospital Association delegate for the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky Hospital Association. She received the Grassroots Champions Award from the American Hospital Association in 2019. Wheatley is a past chairperson of the Ohio Valley District of the Kentucky Hospital Association.

She is also a member of Campbellsville Baptist Church and graduated from Taylor County High School.

Ten members of Wheatley's immediate family are CU graduates and one of her grandsons, Hayden Dabney, is a junior at Campbellsville University. He is an educational ministries major with a minor in music and a member of the Tiger Marching Band.

Wheatley has two married children: Landon, who graduated from Campbellsville University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication with a minor in English, and his Master's of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Human Resource Management in 2011, and he has added a concentration in business administration with an emphasis in business information technology, and Jaclyn Dabney, who received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Psychology; and three grandchildren, Hayden Dabney, a junior at Campbellsville University; and Noah and Reid Dabney.

Her hobbies include water sports, reading, traveling and spending time with friends and family. She especially enjoys going to her grandsons' sports and band events.

Sullivan was a lawyer, devout Christian, mediator, powerful and appealing orator, a courageous citizen during perilous times, a noted philanthropist and a devoted family man. In the words of a friend, Sullivan “reached out both hands in constant helpfulness to others.”

In 1890, three years after his death, a memorial committee was formed - former President Grover Cleveland was among the group's members. The members charged themselves with keeping alive the attributes demonstrated by Sullivan. The original group passed along the task to the New York Southern Society, which later passed on the torch of remembering Sullivan's ideals to the Sullivan Foundation formed in 1934.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 13,500 students offering over 100 programs of studying including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.