Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.
Shelley White-Means, a professor of health economics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to study the disparity in breast cancer survival of Black women compared to White women. The goal of the research project is to identify effective public policy interventions and strategies to better support Black women with breast cancer.
Wellesley College, a women’s college in Massachusetts, has received a nearly $1.5 million award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support their project “Transforming Stories, Spaces, Lives: Rethinking Inclusion and Exclusion through the Humanities.” The endeavor aims to restructure the college’s humanities curriculum by providing students with research and learning opportunties focused on understanding inclusivity in the humanities fields.
Howard University in Washington, District of Columbia has received a nearly $1 million grant from Gilead Sciences to increase HIV prevention, anti-stigma, and health equity efforts for Black cisgender and transgender women. The funds will support a collaborative effort between the historically Black university and HealthHIV, focusing on engagement and awareness through artistic endeavors such as podcasts, blogs, fashion shows, and workshops geared towards Black women.
The WISE Women’s Business Center at Syracuse University has been named a Entrepreneurship Assistance Center and received a grant from Empire State Development. The funds will support the center’s Accelerate Business Intensive, an 8-week intensive program that provides women entrepreneurs in the early stages of their business with expert guidance and personalized support.
Dr. Soufleris, a three-time alumna of the State University of New York System, has more than 35 years of higher education experience spanning student affairs, enrollment management, retention, and student success initiatives.
Most recently, Dr. Van Vlerah served as vice president for student success and institutional strategy at Manchester University in Indiana. She is slated to become the fifteenth president of Notre Dame of Maryland University on July 6.
Dr. Egan comes to her new role as president of Bennington College from Connecticut College, where she has been serving as the Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality Studies, dean of the faculty, and chief academic officer.
Dr. Pfluger has spent the past year as Bakersfield College's interim president. She previously served as vice chancellor of educational services and student success at the Kern Community College District.
Dr. Geneco comes to her new role from Tufts University in Massachusetts, where she has served as provost for the past four years. She is slated become the University at Buffalo's first woman president on August 10.