Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.
Two faculty members at Meredith College, a women’s liberal arts educational institution in North Carolina, have received a nearly $500,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for their project, “Advancing Insight into Maternal Social Support.” For their project, Dr. Pamela Norcross, associate professor of child development, and Dr. Betty-Shannon Prevatt, associate professor of psychology, will examine how social support interventions during pregnancy affect the incidence of postpartum mood disorders.
Utah State University recently received a gift from alumna Janet Osborne and her daughter Lisa to establish the Osborn Family Lactation Suite. Housed in the university’s Mehdi Heravi Global Teaching and Learning Center, the facility will serve as a warm and welcoming space for nursing mothers on campus.
Rutgers University-Camden has received a five-year, $700,000 award from the Henry Luce Foundation’s Clare Boothe Luce Program for Women in STEM. The grant will support two endowed professorships for women faculty members, as well as a multifaceted program offering mentorship for STEM faculty and students, community outreach, and curriculum reform.
The department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center received a $2,145,000 grant from the Roots & Wings Foundation to grow the university’s certified nurse-midwife program. The new funds made it possible to immediately hire two certified nurse-midwives who were already working within the Medical Center as labor and delivery nurses. Going forward, the Medical Center plans to introduce at least eight certified nurse-midwives into its hospitals and clinics, with a goal of offering round-the-clock service by 2027.