Helen M. Eigenberg, professor of criminal justice, passed away on Jan. 25. She was director of the School of Social and Community Services from 1998 to 2003 and head of the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies from 2003 to 2014.
A champion of women’s rights, especially when they were violated through acts of violence, she served on the Family Justice Steering Committee for Hamilton County and the Sexual Assault Prevention Committee for the state of Tennessee. She also was the faculty liaison for state Sen. Tommy Burks’ Victim Assistance Academy, which provides training for victim advocates in Tennessee and is a partnership between the UTC Criminal Justice program and the Tennessee State Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.
She received two National Institute of Justice grants to create the Transformation Project at UTC in 2002, a program of the UTC Women’s Center to combat violence against women on campus. She also received grants from the Catholic Health Initiatives to address adolescent intimate partner abuse. In 2017, in recognition of her dedicated public service, she received Tennessee’s prestigious Harold Love Outstanding Service Award.
