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.

Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia, received a pledge of $6.5 million from Elizabeth and James McDonnell II. Elizabeth McDonnell is a member of the Hollins University Class of 1962. The funds will be used to upgrade technology and equipment in a campus science building. Part of the gift will establish an endowed faculty chair in the university’s theatre program.

The University of Massachusetts received a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for research on whether pthalates increase the risk of human breast cancer. The research is under the direction of Katherine W. Reeves, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Dr. Reeves is a graduate of Yale University. She holds a master of public health degree from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham received a three-year, $2 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute for research on improving care for women with endometrial cancer. The research is under the direction of Kerri Bevis, an assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the university.

Three women scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, have each received a $50,000 grant from the Chau Hoi Shuen Foundation’s Women in Science Program. The Berkeley faculty will collaborate with women scientists in China on research projects. The three Berkeley faculty members receiving grants are Lin He, a cell biologist, Katherine Hammond, a professor of environmental health sciences, and Kunxin Luo, a professor of molecular and cell biology.

Emory University in Atlanta received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for research on using yoga to help women who have experienced sexual assault while in the military. The research is under the direction of Ursula Kelly, an assistant professor at the university Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Dr. Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. from Boston College. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing at the University of Massachusetts.