Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Texas Woman’s University received a record $15 million gift from the Doswell Foundation that will lay the groundwork for a new aviation program aimed at addressing an industry-wide pilot shortage and giving greater access to one of its most underrepresented groups: women. Currently, women account for roughly 5 percent of all commercial pilots. The Doswell gift is the largest, single gift in Texas Woman’s University history and will provide seed money to hire faculty, equipment, and provide scholarships for incoming students. The new Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences is expected to begin enrolling students in the fall of 2024, with cohorts of approximately 25 students each year. The university is seeking authorization to offer a bachelor’s degree program in aviation sciences with two tracks: professional pilot training and aviation management.

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis received a $924,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a new treatment for ovarian cancer. A new drug called sabizabulin is currently undergoing clinical trials, and now, the team is set to test a newer version of this drug against metastatic and drug-resistant ovarian cancer.

North Carolina State University was recently awarded a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Development, a unit of the National Institutes of Health, to study female reproductive aging and uterine health. Advanced maternal age is generally defined as over 35 years old and can play a critical role in adverse pregnancy outcomes. These issues include infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and mortality.