Women whose leadership has made a difference at Iowa State University were honored at a reception from 3:30-5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.
The reception recognized the 12 faculty, staff and students selected for the 2016 Women Impacting ISU calendar, which is sponsored by the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics with funding from the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost. The 10th annual calendar will be officially unveiled and distributed during the reception, which is free and open to the public.
Students selected for the 2016 calendar are: Kaitlyn Aldrich, senior in civil engineering; Raquel Botello, graduate student in counseling psychology; Christina Hillman, senior in psychology and child, adult and family services; Glenna Lovig, senior in civil engineering; and Lissa Villa, senior in journalism and mass communication and political science.
Faculty selected are: Amy Andreotti, the Roy J. Carver charitable trust professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology and director of the Roy J. Carver Initiative in Biomolecular Structure and Function; Veronica Dark, professor and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Psychology; and Patricia Thiel, distinguished professor of chemistry, professor of materials science and engineering, and scientist at the Ames Laboratory.
Staff chosen for the calendar are: Som Mongtin, assistant director of the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center; Anne Oldham, academic advisor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics; Dana Schumacher, assistant director for scholarship and research, University Honors Program; and Barbara Steiner, supervisor of plant services for Facilities Planning and Management.
“It was absolutely inspiring to read about all of the amazing accomplishments of these women and their impact on the Iowa State community,” said Meg Oliver, senior in communication studies from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and one of four students serving on the selection committee for the 2016 calendar. “It was extremely difficult to choose the top 12, because I think all of the women nominated are more than qualified to represent Iowa State University on this calendar.”
The Catt Center sponsors the calendar with funding provided by the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost. Each year, a committee of students, faculty and staff – including past calendar honorees – evaluates the nomination packets and deliberates for four hours over the course of two meetings to select the final honorees. Four students, four faculty and seven professional and scientific employees comprised the 15-member selection committee this year, representing a diverse cross-section of the Iowa State community.
The Catt Center began distributing 1,000 copies of the free calendar during the Jan. 13 reception. Following the event, calendars became available around campus at these locations: Carrie Chapman Catt Center, 309 Catt Hall; Sloss House; and the Student Answer Center, located on the ground floor of Beardshear Hall.
According to Kristine Perkins, public relations and student program coordinator for the Catt Center who oversees the project, 54 women were nominated for the 2016 Women Impacting ISU calendar. “Choosing the 12 women honored on the calendar is an incredibly difficult task, and we thank members of the selection committee for their time and consideration,” she said. “We encourage those who nominated a woman who was not selected for the 2016 calendar to consider submitting a nomination next year.”
The 2016 Women Impacting ISU calendar includes photographs of the five students, three faculty and four staff members who were chosen by the selection committee based on their achievements in service, teaching, research, administration and various other campus activities.
To help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Women Impacting ISU calendar, the previous nine calendars were on display in the South Ballroom during the Jan. 13 reception.
View the 2016 presentation.