Six Women in Higher Education Receive Notable Honors or Awards

Julia Cronin-Gilmore, an associate professor of business at Bellevue University in Nebraska, received the Excellence in Teaching/Training Award for Online Technology in Higher Education from the United States Distance Learning Association. She joined the faculty at Bellevue University in 2014.

Dr. Cronin-Gilmore has a Ph.D. in business administration specializing in marketing, a master’s degree in management, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

Claire Renzetti, who holds the Judi Conway Patton Endowed Chair for Studies of Violence Against Women and is chair of the department of sociology at the University of Kentucky, has been selected to received the Doris Wilkinson Faculty Leadership Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Dr. Renzetti will be honored at the society’s annual meeting in Montreal this August.

Professor Renzetti joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky in 2010 after teaching at the University of Dayton in Ohio. She hold bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree in sociology, all from the University of Delaware.

Sarah Jane Brubaker, an associate professor and chair of the public policy and administration program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, is the inaugural winner of the Kathleen S. Lowney Mentoring Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Dr. Brubaker is a graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She holds a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Delaware.

The University of Kansas has named a new residence hall to honor Cora Downs, the first woman to earn a Ph.D. at the university. The new Cora Downs Residence Hall will house 545 students.

Dr. Downs earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at the University of Kansas. She joined the faculty at the university in 1917 as an instructor of bacteriology and remained on the faculty until her retirement in 1963.

Huda Zoghbi, a professor in the departments of pediatrics, molecular and human genetics, neurology and neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, received the 2017 Switzer Prize awarded by the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. The award is given to an individual for excellence in biological or biomedical research.

A native of Lebanon, Dr. Zoghbi earned a bachelor’s degree at the American University of Beirut and received her medical training at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She joined the faculty at the Baylor College of Medicine in 1988.

Mary Splide, the outgoing president of Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, was recognized for her service by having the college’s downtown campus named in her honor. The Mary Splide Center is a 90,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2013.

President Splide has led the college for the past 16 years. She is the first woman to serve as president of Lane Community College. A native of Scotland, President Splide was educated at the University of Edinburgh.

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