Area native Hackett named MSSU interim dean
Lorinda Hackett
Lorinda Hackett, a native of Pickering, was recently named the interim dean of Missouri Southern State University’s School of Education.
Hackett’s journey from northwest Missouri to the southwest Missouri city of Joplin, home of the Missouri Southern campus, has spanned more than 30 years.
She graduated from North Nodaway High School in 1977 then earned the first of two degrees from Northwest Missouri State University in 1981.
Hackett is the latest Bearcat graduate to take on a prominent role at Missouri Southern.
Fellow Northwest graduate Al Cade was the dean of education prior to his death in 2015, while former Bearcat softball player Pat Lipira was the vice president of academic affairs.
Now, Hackett has moved into the role of interim dean, having assumed her new duties June 1.
She is the interim dean over the education school’s three departments: Teacher Education, Psychology and Kinesiology.
“So far it has been an introduction to the various duties that I will take over,” Hackett said of her first few weeks on the job.
“I’m very familiar with the three schools in the School of Education. I was the department head of Teacher Education, so it’s a very natural fit for me.”
Hackett has worked at Missouri Southern since 2000, starting as a teacher certification officer and then becoming an assistant professor and full-time instructor in 2006.
She became an associate professor in 2013 and two years later was named Teacher Education chair.
Paula Carson, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said she is pleased that Hackett accepted the important leadership role.
“She possesses a strong sense of vision,” Carson said, “and I’m looking forward to working with her in this role to strengthen these programs and build connections with alumni.”
Under Hackett’s leadership, the Teacher Education Department at Missouri Southern became the first in the state to meet new accreditation standards set forth by the Council for Accreditation Preparation.
Hackett’s teaching career began in rural northwest Missouri, a period that also featured plenty of years on the sidelines as a head coach.
Earlier, as a high school athlete, she helped North Nodaway win the girls basketball Highway 275 Conference championship in each of her final two seasons.
Hackett earned her bachelor’s degree in social studies in 1981 and began her teaching career in Barnard at South Nodaway, where she remained for four years.
She said she still stays in contact with some of her former South Nodaway players.
Hackett then spent a year at Savannah as a social science teacher as well as coaching basketball and track and field.
Beginning in 1985, she taught social studies at Pittsburg (Kansas) High School, where she later became a guidance counselor in addition to serving as girls basketball, softball and track and field coach for the Purple Dragons.
Hackett received a master’s degree from Northwest in 1986 and added a specialist degree in higher education from Pittsburg State University in 1993.
She left Pittsburg High School to begin her career in higher education.
For the past decade, Hackett has worked closely with students seeking to become professional educators. A special challenge at Missouri Southern has been serving non-traditional students, who in 2015 made up 30 percent of the enrollment.
“We have a high percentage of non-traditional students that come back, and they are our strength,” Hackett said. “They bring a lot of great qualities to the program.”
