Six Women Scholars Receive Notable Honors or Awards

Katherine L. Knight, professor and chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University in Maywood, Illinois, received the 2015 Marion Spencer Fay Award. The honor is presented to a woman who has achieved excellence in medicine and science by the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at the College of Medicine at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Dr. Knight joined the faculty at Loyola University in 1988. She is a graduate of Elmira College in New York and earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at Indiana University.

Robin Coste Lewis, a Provost’s Fellow in the creative writing and literature doctoral program at the University of Southern California, won the National Book Award in the poetry category. She was honored for poetry collection Voyage of the Sable Venus: And Other Poems (Alfred F. Knopf, 2015).

Lewis received a master of fine arts degree from New York University’s creative writing program where she was a Goldwater Fellow in poetry. She also holds a master’s of theological studies degree in Sanskrit and comparative religious literature from Harvard Divinity School.

Susan Forster was the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology. Dr. Forster is director of medial studies for the department of ophthalmology and visual science at the Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Forster is a graduate of Harvard University and earned her medical degree at Columbia University.

Marcia Ory was honored by her selection as the 2016 Laureate in Health Behavior Research by the American Academy of Health Behavior Research. Dr. Ory is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Public Health and associate dean of research at the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Round Rock, Texas.

Dr. Ory is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a master’s degree from Indiana University and a master of public health degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Professor Ory earned her Ph.D. in family studies/human development from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Marie Hvidsten, director of the Rural Leadership program of the North Dakota State University Extension Service, received the 2015 Outstanding Leadership Program Director Award from the International Association of Programs for Agricultural Leadership. She has been on the staff of the NDSU Extension Service since 2002.

Dr. Hvidsten is a graduate of Bemidji State University in Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of North Dakota and a doctorate in organizational development from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

Jody Donovan, dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs at Colorado State University, was named a Pillar of the Profession by Student Affairs Administrations in Higher Education (NASPA). Dr. Donovan has been on the staff at Colorado State for 18 years.

Dr. Donovan is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and a Ph.D. in higher education student affairs leadership from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.