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.

Florida International University in Miami was awarded an $893,255 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to lead a 5-year project to improve engagement in care and access to services for women with opioid use disorder. Melissa Ward, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work at the university, will lead the effort to address the need for women-centered navigation systems that connect women with OUD to vital resources like medications, mental health care, and social services. The project includes developing a pilot recovery navigation system that meets the unique needs of women, increases awareness of services and resources, and destigmatizes seeking treatment for OUD. Dr. Ward holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Florida International University. She also earned a master of public health degree from George Washington University.

E. Eugene Carter describes himself as a person of privilege: an American White male born during an era when those attributes provided advantages not available to all. His wife, Rita M. Rodriguez, began her American journey at 16 – a Cuban refugee with a penniless, non-English speaking family with no education. Both earned doctoral degrees and went on to highly successful careers. Now a retired finance professor, Carter has established a foundation that will pay off up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Hispanic women who graduate with degrees in engineering from New Mexico State University.

Cynda Johnson was the founding dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke and is a professor of family and community medicine. Her mother Dolores Stolte has established the Cecil William Stolte & and Dolores Ann Reith Stolte Fund for Women in Medicine and Science at the medical school, named for herself and her late husband. The endowment was made to the school’s Group on Women in Medicine and Science, which consists of students, resident physicians, and faculty members who promote dialogue surrounding what it means to be a woman in medicine. The funds will allow women students for years to come will have the opportunity to participate in events that are timely and relevant to their training and career development.