Friends and family of the late Jane E. Lawton celebrate her remarkable life with an endowed internship for the President’s Leadership Class, of which she was a member. From left are: Allsion Hay, letters senior and first Lawton intern; Lawton’s sister-in-law and brother, Jane and Neil England; and friend Sue Mayhue.

E ven as children growing up in Ada, Jane England Lawton’s friends knew she would go places. Family photos reveal a pretty brunette with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, looking equally at ease whether sporting a tiara or shouldering a rifle.

At the University of Oklahoma, Lawton distinguished herself as president of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and as a member of the 1962 President’s Leadership Class. After graduating as a Phi Beta Kappa in 1966, she left Oklahoma for Washington, D.C., where she began a lengthy career in public service, first working for Speaker of the House Carl Albert and later as a four-term mayor of Chevy Chase, Maryland.

In 2005, she was appointed to the Maryland State House of Delegates, where she served until her death in November 2007. In December, her tight-knit group of friends began working to establish a fitting memorial to the woman who had touched so many lives.

“We decided it had to be something at OU,” said Marilyn Foster, Lawton’s friend of 50 years. “It’s where she went to school, where she met so many of her lifelong friends, and we wanted OU to carry on her legacy.”

The group including Foster, Rosemary McBee and Sue Mayhue, with input from Jane’s husband Stephan and daughters Kathleen Lawton-Trask and Stephanie Lawton, ultimately chose to create an internship for the President’s Leadership Class. PLC adviser Nanette Hathaway said the organization for outstanding freshmen had long been looking for a way to keep PLC alums connected through their upper-division years at the University and beyond.

To achieve that goal, letters senior Allison Hay was awarded the first Jane E. Lawton Intern Scholarship. Hay will keep PLC alumni records current and arrange additional networking opportunities with members at OU and as they begin their careers.

“I loved PLC,” said junior Joel Ingram. “It was the best part of my freshman year. There are speakers and cultural events, but for me the best part was the people I met. No one wants to lose touch.”

One of Hay’s first initiatives was already a success—sponsoring a night at the theater for a group of Ingram’s PLC classmates so they could support him in his starring role in the OU musical theatre production of “Chicago.”

“I’ve got some big dreams for the job,” said Hay. “I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to improve an already incredible organization and to be connected, even in a small way, to the family of Mrs. Lawton. Her legacy is an intimidating list of impressive accomplishments paired with genuine kindness, so it is an honor to be linked with her name and those who loved her best.”