We are honored to present Jon “JT” Taylor with the 2020 Alumni Merit Award. The Alumni Merit Award recognizes alumni who have enhanced the prestige of Lindenwood University by virtue of their character, integrity, career, and personal accomplishments. Traditionally, the award has not been given in recognition of a single remarkable achievement but has been reserved for those alumni who have attained and maintained extremely high stations in their chosen fields of endeavor and in their service to society. 

JT is a 1996 alumnus who obtained his bachelor’s in criminal justice from Lindenwood. He began his career at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in 1997. After graduating from the police academy and the fire academy, JT was assigned to police services. He’s had career assignments in patrol, SWAT, criminal investigations, K9, bomb squad, police training, and strategic planning. He was promoted to Assistant Chief of Police in 2014 and to Chief of Police in 2020. He has been married to his wife, Elissa, for 21 years who is also a Lindenwood alumna, and JT’s college sweetheart. JT and Elissa have three children, Ella, Edie, and Hank. JT’s favorite Lindenwood memories include playing football, meeting life-long friends, the Lindenwood “trailer park” where the football players and wrestlers lived, and his mentor, Rick Steinmann.