The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics is pleased to recognize the accomplishments and activities of its faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters:
Laura Brown, assistant professor of English and a member of the Archives of Women’s Political Communication advisory board, received the LAS Award for Early Achievement in Teaching at the LAS Fall Convocation on Sept. 7.
Dianne Bystrom, director emerita, presented “A Century of Suffrage: The History of Women as Voters” at the Norfolk (Neb.) Public Library on Aug. 24 and the North Platte (Neb.) Public Library on Aug. 26 as part of the Humanities Nebraska Speakers Bureau.
Carrie Chapman Catt posthumously received a Valiant Women of the Vote Award from the National Women’s History Alliance on Aug. 21, in Washington, D.C. Catt is also memorialized with a statue at the Turning Point Suffrage Memorial in Lorton, Virginia. The memorial was dedicated in May 2021.
Elyse Davis, a 2021 graduate in public relations and the center’s public relations/events planning coordinator in 2020-2021, started a new position in August as a marketing coordinator with the Iowa Wild hockey affiliate in Des Moines.
Karen Garner, professor of historical studies at SUNY Empire State College and a 2002 recipient of the Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, has published a new book with Manchester University Press – “Friends and Enemies: The Allies and Neutral Ireland in the Second World War.”
Carrie Ann King Johnson, a doctoral candidate in rhetoric and professional communication and a Catt Center graduate assistant, was interviewed by Bonds Magazine about her research on whisper networks. King Johnson also served on the Iowa State Graduate and Professional Student Senate committee that worked to reallocate GPSS funds to pilot a dedicated family-friendly study room in the Media Center at Parks Library.
Earlier this summer, Karen Kedrowski, center director, was appointed to the Faculty Network for Student Voting Rights Steering Committee, where she is helping to develop strategies to reach STEM students. This is a group of faculty from across the country who work on student voter engagement. Kedrowski was also interviewed for Iowa Public Radio’s River to River on July 23 and Aug. 11. On August 16, she spoke to international guests hosted by the Iowa International Center on efforts to increase women’s representation in government in Iowa. On Aug. 24 she was interviewed by Jerry Zremski of The Buffalo News on the strong powers of the New York governorship and its implications for Gov. Hochul. She was interviewed about Iowa’s redistricting process by Greg Giroux of Bloomberg Government on Aug. 25 and by Sarah Beckman of WOI TV on Aug. 26. On Sept. 2, she moderated the panel discussion “The Uninhabitable Earth? Climate Change and Your Future,” sponsored by the Department of Political Science.
In August, the article “19 Facts About the 19th Amendment on its 100th Anniversary” co-authored by Kedrowski and Bystrom that was originally published in The Conversation in June 2020 has been revised for middle and high school audiences and published on the digital literacy platform Actively Learn.
Kristine Perkins, former public relations/student programs coordinator with the center, started Aug. 16 as the communications specialist for the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. Previously, she worked as a communications specialist for the College of Engineering, covering two departments: agricultural and biosystems engineering and civil, construction and environmental engineering.
Amy Erica Smith, LAS Dean’s Professor and associate professor of political science at Iowa State, launched her campaign as a candidate for the Ames Community School Board in August.
Kelly Winfrey, coordinator of research and outreach for the center, assistant professor in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication and faculty member in the Leadership Studies Program, presented “Preparing for a Candidate Forum and Crafting a Stump Speech” on July 30 at the virtual Candidate Academy sponsored by the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce. In August, Winfrey launched her campaign as a candidate for the Ames Community School Board.