Six Women Academics Selected to Receive Prestigious Awards

Beverly Edmond, the interim provost at the University of Montana, received the Trailblazer Award from the Conference of Minority Public Administrators, a division of the American Society for Public Administration. Edmond shares the award with Ron Finnell, who co-authored the book Trailblazing African American Public Administrators (Routledge, 2016) with Dr. Edmond.

Dr. Edmond is a graduate of Albany State University. She holds a master of public administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in political science from Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Sally G. Hoskins, a professor of biology at City College of New York, has been selected to receive the 2017 Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education from the Genetics Society of America. Dr. Hoskins was originally a neurobiologist but her research now focuses on science education.

Professor Hoskins is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She earned a Ph.D. in biology at the University of Chicago.

Gail Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College, a Queens campus of the City University of New York, received the Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence from the TIAA Institute. She announced that she will contribute the $20,000 prize that comes with the award to the LaGuardia Community College Foundation.

Dr. Mellow is a graduate of the University at Albany of the State University of New York System, where she majored in psychology. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from George Washington University in the nation’s capital.

Lori Ideta, interim vice chancellor for students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, received the 2017 Fred Turner Award for Outstanding Service from NASPA – Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education.

Dr. Ideta has been an active member of NASPA for more than 20 years. Earlier in her career at the University of Hawaii, she has served as associate vice chancellor and dean of students.

Tamara Scerpella has been selected to receive the Woman in Science Award from the American Medical Women’s Association. She is a professor of orthopedic surgery and the Ballantine Endowed Professor of Orthopedic Research at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Scerpella is the team physician for the University of Wisconsin athletic teams.

Dr. Scerpella holds a bachelor’s degree and a medical doctorate from the University of Iowa.

Janelle Baker, the director of graduate nursing programs at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, received the Champion Award for outstanding work for eliminating health disparities at the Health Disparities Conference at Xavier University in New Orleans.

Dr. Baker holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. She earned a Ph.D. in nursing science from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.