Karen Starner Jacobson

The Elsie Burk Service Award, established in 1983, recognizes outstanding leadership, loyalty and service to Mansfield University. Karen Jacobson’s experiences as a student at Mansfield helped prepare her for a future filled with service and learning. While a student at MU, she joined several campus organizations, participated in leadership and philanthropic activities and was recognized as a member of Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges. Jacobson’s involvement in one particular organization while a student at MU, the Delta Zeta sorority, has remained constant throughout the years.
After graduating from Mansfield in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Jacobson was asked to become the College Chapter Director of Mansfield University’s Delta Zeta sorority in 1971. She continues to hold the title of College Chapter Director for the sorority today, marking over 38 years in the position. Jacobson was recently recognized for this accomplishment by Delta Zeta National as the only Chapter Director in history to hold such tenure.
She has mentored students through times of rich prosperity and hardship, and has had a direct impact on the lives of over 700 Mansfield University women as a dedicated advisor, teacher, coach and mentor. Jacobson served on the Mansfield University Alumni Board from 1989 through 1992, and was a member of the Undergraduate Scholarship Selection Committee.
She has volunteered for the annual MU Phonathon, served as a class agent for the class of 1969, and has participated in the MU College Community Chorus and Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity. Jacobson has guest-lectured at MU for multiple business, economics, audio-visual and management classes, as well as for freshman orientation.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from MU in 1986 and has attended 41 of the past 44 Homecoming Weekends. Jacobson’s professional career was in the banking industry, where she earned a diploma from the PBA School of Banking at Bucknell University in 1981.
She retired in 2005 from First Citizens National Bank in Mansfield after 35 years of service. She resides in Covington, PA with her husband Charles, who graduated from Mansfield University in 1968.

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