Eight Women Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards

Mary Kay Hemenway, research associate and senior lecturer in the astronomy department at the University of Texas, was selected to receive the 2013 Klumpke-Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. She is being honored “for outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy.” Dr. Hemenway will receive the ward at the society’s annual meeting in San Francisco on July 23.

Dr. Hemenway is a graduate of Notre Dame College in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

Jenna Price Carpenter, the Wayne and Juanita Spinks Professor of Mathematics and Statistics and associate dean for undergraduate studies at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, received the Distinguished Service Award from the Women in Engineering Proactive Network. The award honors those who have advanced training and research for women in engineering.

Dr. Carpenter is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.

Huda Y. Zoghbi, director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital and a professor of molecular and human genetics at the Baylor University College of Medicine, has been selected to receive the Dickson Prize in Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Zoghbi is being honored for discovering the gene that causes Rett syndrome, a pediatric disorder where children lose speech and motor skills. She will be presented with the award in October.

Dr. Zoghbi received her medical training at the American University of Beirut and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.

Rosalie Carpenter, assistant dean of students at Stetson University in Deland, Florida,  received the Robert D. Bradshaw Small Colleges Student Advocate Award from the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators.

Carpenter is a graduate of Stetson University and holds master’s degrees from the University of South Carolina and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Linda Florence Callahan, professor of journalism and mass communication at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, has been selected to receive the Robert P. Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

The award honors individuals who have fostered diversity in high school or middle school media programs. Professor Callahan has been holding High School Media Day on the university’s campus since 1997.

Diana Lados, associate professor of mechanical engineering and founding director of the Integrative Materials Design Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, received the inaugural Constance Tipper Silver Medal from the World Academy of Structural Integrity. Dr. Lados’ research focuses on metal fatigue.

Dr. Lados joined the WPI faculty in 2006. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at WPI.

Rebecca Patton, the Atkinson Visiting Instructor in Perioperative Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, received the 2013 Dorothy Garrigus Adams Award for Excellence in Fostering Professional Standards from the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

Patton is a past president of the American Nurses Association. She is a graduate of Kent State University and holds a master’s degree in mental health nursing from Case Western Reserve University. She is a candidate for a doctor of nursing practice degree at CWRU.

Sheree Toth, professor of psychology and executive director of the Mt. Hope Family Center at the University of Rochester, received the Outstanding Research Career Achievement Award from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

Professor Toth joined the faculty at the University of Rochester in 1985. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Case Western Reserve University.