Five Women Academics Win Awards

Kimberly K. Ruebel, associate professor of curriculum and instruction at the College of Education and Health Professions of the University of Texas at Arlington, was named the 2011 Outstanding Professor of Middle Level Education by the National Professors of Middle Level Education, an affiliate of the Association for Middle Level Education.

Dr. Ruebel is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She hold master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana State University.

Estela Mara Bensimon, professor of education and co-director of the Center for Urban Education at the Rossier School of Education at the University of California, received the 2011 Founders Service Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Council on Ethnic Participation. The award was given to acknowledge Dr. Bensimon’s commitment to promoting access, opportunity, and equity for students of color.

Dr. Bensimon has been on the faculty at USC since 1995. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Montclair State University in New Jersey and an educational doctorate from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Jill Beech, who recently retired from the Georgia and Phillip  Hoffman Chair in Medicine and Equine Reproduction at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, received the Distinguished Education Award from the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

Dr. Beech graduated from the Penn veterinary school in 1972 and joined the faculty in 1977.

Dedra Cantrell, chief information officer for Emory University Healthcare, received the 2011 Innovator of the Year Award from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).

A graduate of Brenau University who holds a master’s degree in organizational management, she joined the staff at Emory in 1994 and assumed her current position in 2010.

Karyn Purvis, director of the Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University, received the 2011 James Hammerstein Award from the New York-based charity Only Make Believe. The award is given to individuals who have “displayed outstanding dedication to children in need.”

Dr. Purvis holds bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees from TCU.