Distinguished Alumni Jackie Vietti

Though Dr. Jackie Vietti’s public higher education experience has touched several campuses in Kansas and Missouri, it is her personal and professional relationship with Emporia State University that is among her most treasured and ongoing memories.

Now a facilitator at the Kansas Community College Leadership Institute, Vietti notably served as ESU’s interim president in 2015. In her letter nominating Vietti for the university’s Distinguished Alumni award, Dr. Mary Shivley, dean of the Honors College, wrote that “under (Vietti’s) six months of leadership, ESU found new energy and embraced challenges of the future with confidence. Jackie Vietti is a transformational leader. It is rare to have a conversation with Dr. Vietti and not end the interaction feeling better about yourself, the situation and the future.”

Vietti’s ESU connections first formed in 1958 when her mother earned a master’s in French from the university. Thirteen years later, Vietti received her secondary teaching certificate from ESU before earning a master’s and doctorate from Pittsburg State University and Kansas State University, respectively. One of her daughters also holds a master’s from ESU in Library Science. In the years since, Vietti has enhanced her ESU connections by serving on the ESU Foundation Board of Trustees and the 2022 University Presidential Search Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Teachers Hall of Fame located on the ESU campus.

“I will always, always, always hold a teaching certificate from Emporia State as one of the best across the nation,” Vietti said. “Few, if any, colleges and universities better prepare students to enter the noble profession of teaching than does Emporia State.”

Nearly half of Vietti’s four decades in public higher education has been spent as president of Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. As the college’s first female president, Vietti helped increase enrollment by 21 percent and oversaw several campus capital projects. She also has worked as dean of instruction and interim president of Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas, and dean of Arts and Sciences instruction at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. From 2017 to 2018, she served as acting president at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

The common thread that weaves through those positions is leadership — both in the classroom and as a higher education administrator. She’s adamant that transformational leaders can’t succeed without the assistance of others; solo efforts don’t work, she said.

“I don't know that I have ever associated the word transformational with my leadership style,” Vietti said. “I do know I am not one to march in place. I am not an unwavering proponent of the status quo, because it is my belief that no matter how good things are, everyone affiliated with any college or university should be on a quest to make things better for students, faculty and staff. If that translates into my being a transformational leader, I will accept that moniker.”