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.

The University of California, Berkeley received a $13 million gift from the estate of Helen Wallace, a professor who led the university’s maternal and child health program from 1962 to 1980. Dr. Wallace died in 2013 at the age of 99. The funds will be used to establish the Wallace Maternal and Child Health Center on campus that will conduct research aimed at creating healthier women, mothers, children, and families. Professor Wallace was a graduate of Wellesley College and held a master of public health degree from Harvard University and a medical degree from Columbia University.

Mills College, a liberal arts institution for women in Oakland, California, received a three-year, $2.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to research the practice of lesson study, a form of professional learning in which teachers collaborate in small teams to plan, observe, and discuss classroom lessons. The project is under the direction of Catherine Lewis, a senior research scholar in education at Mills College. Dr. Lewis is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University.

Arizona State University received a $175,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase to fund women entrepreneurship ventures in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The grant will fund workshops that will focus on supporting women-owned businesses.

The National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) will receive a four-year, $10 million grant from Apple Inc. to help create educational and career opportunities for women in technology fields. One goal of the program will be to double the number of women earning bachelor’s degrees who have been supported by NCWIT scholarships and internships.

Ursuline College, a liberal arts institution for women in Pepper Pike, Ohio, received a $2 million donation from the Parker Hannifin Foundation to help fund two new construction projects on campus. As a result, the college will name one of the buildings the Parker Hannifin Center for the Creative and Healing Arts & Sciences.