Rutgers University Completes Funding for an Endowed Chair to Honor Gloria Steinem

Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has announced that it has successfully raised enough money to fund the Gloria Steinem Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies. The chair, funded by $3 million in gifts from 425 donors, is a collaboration of the Institute for Women’s Leadership, the School of Communication and Information, and the department of women’s and gender studies.

The idea for the chair originated in 2014 with Alison Bernstein, who became director of Rutgers’ Institute for Women’s Leadership in 2011. She died from cancer in 2016. (See WIAReport post.) The occupant of the new chair will teach, conduct research and lead discussions on ways to increase the accuracy and diversity of all people see through various media windows.

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi stated that “this chair is a testament to Gloria Steinem’s distinguished career as a journalist, public intellectual, and women’s rights activist. The women’s movement has radically changed how we think of issues concerning fairness and equity, and after 50 years, Gloria Steinem remains at the forefront of the feminist cause. I’m pleased and honored to affirm my personal support and congratulate those who led the effort to make the chair a reality.”