School Alumni Associations

IU School of Social Work Alumni Association

Alumni Profiles

Jan Lindemann

Jan Lindemann was drawn to Social Work after early college experiences with an outreach program in Inner city Detroit in 1969, Operation Bread Basket with Jesse Jackson in Chicago in the early 70’s, and a placement at Family & Children’s Center in Mishawaka.  Jan changed her major from theology to Social Work her final year at Valparaiso University.  She had planned to be a deaconess in the Lutheran Church and instead received her BSW in 1971. Her decision to get an MSW right out of undergraduate school was pragmatic in that she couldn’t find a job with a BSW.  Since she was a newly wed with no funds, she looked for scholarships and was fortunate to meet Frank Newman, the executive director of the Jewish Federation. There was an instant connection and he offered her a full scholarship to IU School of Social Work making her the first non Jewish recipient.

At IU School of Social Work, Jan knew she had chosen the right professional path.  In graduate school she met several friends who are among her closest to this day.  She was influenced by Dr. Diane Brashear and her work in human sexuality.  Jan assisted and then taught undergraduate classes in Marriage and Family under Diane’s tutelage.  She also led Sexual Attitude Reassessment groups at the Kinsey Institute and at Diane’s private practice.  Jan is pleased to currently be serving on the IU School of Social Work’s Community Advisory Council.

Jan’s thirty-four years in the social work profession have been a kaleidoscope of creative positions.  After graduate school in 1973, she began working at Larue Carter Psychiatric Hospital.  She did individual, marital, family and group therapy often working with psychiatric and psychology residents who were training at Larue Carter.  She vividly remembers being in a small basement office with a psychiatric resident doing joint therapy with a psychotic patient who became very angry and began doing judo kicks at them.  Jan enjoyed multidisciplinary team work.  She joined Dr. George Siskind in developing marital therapy training videos for residents and in co-authoring a chapter for a book.  She also partnered with Fran Lehmann, clinical nurse specialist and dear friend, to create an award winning film “Who Has the Right” about mental health commitments.

In 1978, Jan became executive director of the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Work.  With her passion for advocacy, she built a strong legislative network and viable political action committee with a presence at the State House and with policy makers.  Membership and program development grew under her leadership.

When Jan’s first daughter Andrea was born prematurely in 1980, she decided to devote most of her time to mothering.  During this time, she intermittently led professional development and self-esteem groups at The Julian Center.  She also became involved in her neighborhood and was president of the Meridian Kessler Neighborhood Association in 1980.  In 1982, her second daughter Jessica was born.

In 1984, Jan began working in advocacy for the Indiana Coalition for Human Services.  Again it was Frank Newman who played a significant role in her career.  Frank was the President of the Coalition and made the decision to hire Jan.  She spent the next twelve years lobbying and developing the broad base Coalition that became the unified voice for human services in Indiana.  In its early formation, there were few human service lobbyists at the State House.  Helen Daniels, one of the first woman and first human service advocates, was Jan’s mentor. Welfare reform, adequate human service funding, an increase in child welfare caseworkers, Kids’ First license plates, and prenatal care for indigent mothers were among the programs that Jan helped address.   She received the Indiana Social Worker of the Year Award in 1995 and the Oscar C. McCulloch Social Concerns Award in 1996.

Jan shifted gears after leaving the Coalition in 1996.  She pursued two passions.  One was writing children’s books.  She has not yet been published but takes encouragement from Dr. Seuss who was rejected hundreds of times and many years before getting his first book in print.  She faithfully attends her Writers’ Critique Group and is a member of the Society of Children’s Writers and Book Illustrators.  Her other passion is deepening her spirituality through a variety of practices, readings, workshops, and classes.  She was an active member of The Church Within, and led their Children’s Church and the nursing home outreach for several years.  “Many paths, one God” sums up the Church’s and Jan’s belief.  She is currently attending St. Luke’s Methodist Church.  She is in a Spirit and Discernment Group.  Her favorite spiritual book is “The Course in Miracles.”  Jan also likes reading novels and has been in a Women’s Book Group for over ten years.

Feeling the pull back to Social Work, Jan once again brought her coalition building skills to a new area of unmet need in the community.  In 2003, she partnered with Sheldon and Natalie Siegel to launch the Indianapolis Consortium for Creative Aging and Retirement and then served as its project director and grant writer. This initiative is to promote a senior friendly city that involves adults fifty and older in vibrant, creative life enriching activities and programs in Indianapolis.  The Consortium meets quarterly to exchange information and identify program ideas and needs.  The first offshoot of the Consortium, the Indy Creative Aging website, is being piloted and will give seniors easy access to information about life enrichment programs, civic, social, recreation, and volunteer activities in the city.

About three years ago, Jan felt the tug to reenter Social Work direct service.  Following the death of her mother from cancer, her father benefited greatly from hospice in his home town of Kankakee, Illinois which was where Jan was born.  Jan decided she would like to work in hospice and has been doing PRN or as needed social work at St. Vincent Hospice.  She works primarily with families and patients in their homes but also, on occasion, in the inpatient unit.  Recently she has volunteered to rock babies at the Pediatric Rehab Center.  She feels honored to be touching those at birth and at death.

Jan teases that she is ready to be grandma but her daughters are both very career oriented at the present time.  Andrea completed law school at Berkeley last year and is practicing law in San Francisco.  Jessica is in her second year at Harvard Law School.  Both took after there father who is partner at the law firm of Krieg, DeVault LLP.  Jan still believes both daughters will do pro bono or human rights law of some sort once they pay off their student loans.  Jan and Paul have been married 36 years and enjoy travel, movies and golf.  Most recently they were thrilled to be at the Super Bowl in row 11 watching the Colts’ victory. 

To end on a light note, Jan likes this quote. “We could learn a lot from crayons…some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull; some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.”

See the IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations Calendar of Events for upcoming School of Social Work alumni programs.

School of Social Work web site 

IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations contact:
Karen Deery, (317) 274-8959 or kdeery@iupui.edu