Linda L. Chezem, Class of 1971
Linda Chezem has been an educator, influential judge, and public health issues advocate for more than 30 years, and her work continues to create educational outreach opportunities that connect health-related research, justice systems, and communities.
She is professor of youth development and agriculture education for the Purdue University College of Agriculture, an affiliated scholar of the Center for Public Health Law Partnerships at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and enjoys adjunct appointments to the IU School of Medicine and the Indianapolis campuses of the IU School of Law and the Purdue School of Science.
Chezem also served 22 years as an esteemed, full-time judge in Indiana. Since her first appointment to the bench in a Lawrence County, Ind., trial court, she has served as a special judge in more than 300 cases serving 25 counties. Her jurisdictional experience at trial-court level ranged from traffic to felony murder, marriage dissolution, probate, juvenile, and countless civil and criminal dockets before her appointment to the Indiana Court of Appeals, Fourth District.
On the bench, she worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Indiana citizens. Her affiliations include the Indiana Judicial Conference Education Committee, the American Bar Association, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Her fellowships with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Mid-America Regional Public Health Leadership Institute and tenure on the Morgan County, Ind., Board of Health include such achievements as better preparing the justice system for public health emergencies. She authored The Improvement of the Adjudication of Driving Under the Influence after concluding that alcohol abuse and addiction was the nexus of the single largest public health impact in the U.S.
Chezem's public service also includes membership to the White House Conference for a Drug Free America Law Enforcement Advisory Committee, the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, New York's General Service Board for Alcoholics Anonymous, the National Alliance for Alcohol Research and Education Inc., and the Public Health Law Association.
For her efforts, she has been a three-time Sagamore of the Wabash honoree, with recognition from Governors Frank O'Bannon, Evan Bayh, and Robert D. Orr. In 1998, the Indiana General Assembly recognized her with a joint resolution of the Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana Senate. She is a 2005 Lawrence County Pacesetter, a 2005 Lawrence County Woman of Excellence, and a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from Indiana University.