Rutgers University in New Jersey has announced that is has launched an effort to establish an endowed professorship to honor Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. magazine and one of the nation’s leading feminist figures. The holder of the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture, and Feminist Studies will hold a joint appointment at the Rutgers’ Institute for Women’s Leadership, the School of Communication and Information, and the department of women’s and gender studies.
The university hopes to have an appointee for the endowed chair by the 2016-17 academic year. Funding for the effort has been obtained from the Ford Foundation, the John and James L. Knight Foundation, Charles H. Revson Foundation, and several individual donors. Some $1 million of the $3 million target has been raised so far.
In a letter to the university, Gloria Steinem wrote, “when I learned of your interest in creating a chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers – and doing it in my name – it was hard to wrap my mind around. It is both a first and unique combination of two growing fields of study, and a personal honor for the work and the global movement that matter most to me.”