Seven Women Scholars Win Prestigious Awards

Judith Schiff, chief research archivist at Yale University, is the inaugural recipient of the Edward Bouchet Legacy Award given by the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. Bouchet was the first African-American graduate of Yale and the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from an American university. Schiff was honored for her research on Bouchet.

Schiff is a graduate of Barnard College. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University and a degree in library science from Southern Connecticut State University.

Emily Putnam-Hornstein, assistant professor of social work at the University of Southern California, was selected to receive the 2012 Outstanding Social Work Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Society for Social Work and Research. Her dissertation was entitled, “Do Accidents Happen? An Examination of Injury Mortality Among Maltreated Children.” The award will be presented at the SSWR annual conference in Washington in January.

Dr. Putnam-Hornstein is a graduate of Yale University. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University and earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley.

Susan E. Mickey, professor of theatre and dance at the University of Texas, won the 2011 Joseph Jefferson Award for costume design. The “Jeffs” recognize excellence in theatrical productions in the Chicago area. Professor Mickey was honored for costume design for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of The Madness of George III.

Professor Mickey has 25 years experience as a costume designer. She joined the faculty at the University of Texas in 2004.

Aretha F. Marbley, an associate professor in the College of Education at Texas Tech University, received an award as the Outstanding Counselor Educator Advocate from the Texas Counselors for Social Justice.

Dr. Marbley is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She holds a master’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University and a doctorate in counselor education from the University of Arkansas.

Gail. F. Baker, dean of the College of Communication, Fine Arts, and Media at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, won an Emmy Award for writing for the television documentary DuSable to Obama: Chicago’s Black Metropolis. She shared the award with two other members of her writing team.

Dean Baker is a graduate of Northwestern University. She earned a master’s degree at Roosevelt University and a Ph.D. at the University of Missouri.

Bonnie Pitblado, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Museum of Anthropology at Utah State University was selected to receive the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the American Anthropology Association and Oxford University Press.

Dr. Pitblado is a magna cum laude graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.

Patricia Ann Polansky, librarian and director of the Center for Russia in Asia in the School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii, received the Medal of Pushkin from the government of Russia. The award is presented to individuals for achievements in the study and preservation of the cultural heritage of Russia or for their promotion of cultural exchange. Polansky is only the second American among the 650 individuals who have won the award.