Marceline Jaques (MA ‘46/PhD ’59) was the first woman in the country to receive a doctoral degree specifically in rehabilitation counseling education. She took this responsibility seriously and set the course for others to follow.

“I didn’t really think much about being the first at the time,” Jaques said. “The Rehabilitation Counseling program at Iowa was very new. There were not very many of us in it, and I was the only woman.”

Through her distinguished career, Jaques became one of few women directing a rehabilitation counseling education program and demonstrated excellence in the program’s development. She established exceptional academic standards within her program, strong ties to the practitioner community enhancing field placements and research, and mentored countless students who themselves have gone on to become leaders in the profession.

As one of the few women leaders in the profession, Jaques took great delight and effort in her role as mentor to the small group of other women on the national level. Professor Vilia Tarvydas, coordinator of Iowa’s Rehabilitation Counseling program, said she was privileged to become part of this informal support group in the 1970s. “Dr. Jaques demonstrated by her success, wisdom, and compassion that a woman could be human, yet achieve remarkable things in her career,” she said. “I consider it an honor that so many years later, I find myself coordinator of the very program from which she began the history of doctorally educated women in our profession.”

“Because there were so few of us,” Jaques recalled, “I always felt that mentoring women going into the field was essential. And when you think about it, I had to work harder—most women then had to work harder than their colleagues—just to get past the obstacles. That was a time, after all, when most of the rehabilitation professionals were men, and they were very reluctant to let women into the circle.”

The research on the activities and duties of rehabilitation counselors Jaques undertook was also one of the first of its type and it helped to establish the profession in its early years.

“Dr. Jacques represents the qualities that are best in an educator,” Tarvydas said. “She is bright, pioneering, and compassionate.”

Throughout her career, Jaques blazed trails. In addition to serving as director of the Rehabilitation Counseling program at The State University of New York at Buffalo, she served as president of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association and was editor of its journal. She also received a number of research and achievement awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association and a Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Iowa College of Education.