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.

Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut received a $180,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support planning for a convention of women of color leaders in higher education and other sectors. The goal is to study, develop, and implement plans to address the underrepresentation of women of color within leadership ranks across the United States. Joanne Berger-Sweeney, president of Trinity College serves as principal investigator for the project.

Sarah Lichenstein, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale Medical School has received a grant from Women’s Health Research to study cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating compound of the cannabis plant. Manufacturers of these products have claimed they can help alleviate anxiety and pain, promote sleep, and treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more. But there is little research to support these claims or the safety of regularly using such products over time. Dr. Lichenstein will examine how cannabidiol may affect behavior and the brain to determine how it affects women and if it affects women and men differently.

California State University, Fullerton received a $650,000 grant from the Center for Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University for programs to increase the number of women in computer science. The grant will be used to enhance the pipeline of community college students to the university, develop and expand introductory courses to boost accessibility, and build a culture of career preparation and success for women in the male-dominated field. The project is under the director of Doina Bein, an associate professor of computer science at the university.