Christina "Tina" Updike ('73)

With the Madison Digital Image Database, Christina "Tina" Updike ('73) helped revolutionize the use of digital images in the classroom. The educational software is now used by America's top universities, and the program earned JMU its first grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Tina, the visual resources curator in the School of Art and Art History, has made an art of making a difference at JMU. She also created the JMU Visual Resource Collection, a library of 100,000 visual images that serve Madison. Tina has earned the James Madison Distinguished Service Award for her extensive volunteer service to the university community. "Tina has been a valued employee of JMU for nearly 31 years and is one of JMU's most dedicated alums," says Cole Welter, director of the School of Art and Art History. Tina and her husband, Phillip ('73), are generously funding the School of Art and Art History's first endowed professorship - The Beck Faculty Fellowship by Phillip and Christina Beck Updike.