Lawrence High School alumni to induct three into Hall of Honor on Sunday

Three Lawrence high school graduates whose careers have spanned government, commerce and international affairs will be inducted Sunday into the Lawrence Lions Alumni Association’s Hall of Honor.

Each year, the alumni associations recognizes graduates of Lawrence High School and the former Liberty Memorial High School who have distinguished themselves in their professions or have made significant contributions to society on a state, national or global level.

This year’s inductees are: Mike Amyx, LHS class of 1971; Selina Jackson, LHS class of 1984; and Dwayne W. Peaslee, LMHS class of 1950.

Amyx, currently serving his sixth term as Lawrence mayor, is a lifelong resident of the city. A 1975 graduate of Kansas City’s Farrell Academy of Barbering, Amyx is the owner-operator of downtown’s Amyx Barber Shop, and has also served as chairman of the Kansas Board of Barbering.

In addition to his mayoral duties, Amyx is also a longtime member of the Lawrence city commission (serving from 1983 to 1988 and again from 2005 to present) and onetime Douglas County Commission chair.

Jackson started out her career at the White House in 1988, spent two years on Ronald Reagan’s Los Angeles staff, five years as U.S. director of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue and ten years as vice president of international public affairs at UPS.

In 2010, Jackson arranged UPS’s transport of the 13-ton drilling equipment that eventually freed the 33 miners trapped in Chile’s San Jose copper-gold mine. She was awarded with the Merit Order of Bernardo O’Higgins, the highest civilian honor for non-Chilean citizens, for her efforts. Jackson now serves as vice president for global policy and government relations for Proctor Gamble in Washington, D.C.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Dwayne Peaslee, pictured in January 2012

The late Peaslee, an Army veteran and University of Kansas alum, worked as a pipefitter for 60 years, serving as the business manager for the Lawrence chapter of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union from 1987 to 1993.

Peaslee was also active in numerous local committees and boards, including the United Way, Kansas Workforce Investment Board, and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, to name a few. In 2012, the Chamber honored him with the Citizen of the Years Award. Peaslee is also the namesake of Lawrence’s Dwayne Peaslee Technical Training Center. He died in 2013.

All three honorees will be inducted into the Hall of Honor at 2 p.m. Sunday in the LHS rotunda, 1901 Louisiana St. The event is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception.


Update: