Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

Syracuse University in New York received a three-year, $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration for a program to enhance entrepreneurship opportunities for women veterans. The grant will fund a training program established by the university’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families.

The University of Southern California received a $2.5 million grant from the Administration for Children and Families to test a group therapy approach to combat depression among mothers whose children are enrolled in Early Head Start programs. A recent federal study found that more than half of all mothers in these programs from some form of depression. The grant is under the direction of Ferol E. Mennen, an associate professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. Dr. Mennen is a graduate of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and holds a master of social work degree and a Ph.D. from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Stephens College, a liberal arts educational institution for women in Columbia, Missouri, received a $15 million gift from an anonymous donor. The gift is unrestricted but university officials said the funds will be earmarked for programs in the creative arts and health sciences. The $15 million donation is the largest in the college’s 180-year history.