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:
Dianne Bystrom, director emerita, presented “A Century of Women’s Suffrage: Celebrating the 19th Amendment” at the Hastings Museum on Dec. 11 as part of the Humanities Nebraska Speaker’s Bureau.
Sarah Hannon, a fall 2022 graduate in finance with a minor in political science, presented her honors research project, “LGBTQ+ Discrimination in the Adoption System,” on Dec. 7 at the fall 2022 Honors Program poster presentation in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Her project advisor was Kelly Winfrey, interim director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and associate professor in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. Hannon was an Elizabeth Hoffman and Brian R. Binger Legacy of Heroines scholar, an intern with the Catt Center, and a participant in the center’s undergraduate research initiative.
In November 2022, Iowa State University was recognized with an ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting seal by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. Campuses awarded with the seal have submitted their 2020 NSLVE report and a 2022 action plan to ALL IN and have a signed commitment by the administration to the Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation.
Carrie Ann Johnson, interim research and outreach coordinator for the Catt Center, began a post-doctoral position with ADVANCE Midwestern Partnership in November. The partnership, which is funded through an NSF ADVANCE grant award, is a unique consortium among Midwestern universities dedicated to designing, implementing and assessing the impact of programs that enhance the career success of women and under-represented STEM faculty. Johnson will also continue her position at the Catt Center. Johnson’s article “‘Whisper networks’ thrive when women lose faith in formal systems of reporting sexual harassment,” which includes findings from her dissertation research, was published in The Conversation on Jan. 4.
Karen Kedrowski, center director, was recently appointed to the American Political Science Association Civic Learning Working Group and the 2023 APSA Distinguished Award for Civic and Community Engagement Selection Committee. She was interviewed by KGAN statehouse reporter Skylar Tallal on Nov. 17 about Iowa Republicans’ sweep of Congressional seats in the Nov. 8 election and on Dec. 7 about Iowa’s law regarding the caucuses and the options for the Iowa Democratic Party. On Nov. 30, she was interviewed by Mike Moran of the Iowa Public News Service about the record number of women elected as governor. On Dec. 7, Kedrowski appeared on Iowa Public Radio’s River to River. Her column, “We need more women to run for public office,” appeared in the Jan. 1, 2023, edition of Fearless, a newsletter produced by the Business Record, and Emily Kestel, also of Fearless, talked with Kedrowski on Jan. 3 about the center’s Women in Iowa Politics Database and the Gender Balance Project. On Jan. 4, Kedrowski also corresponded with Andreas Jørgesen of the Danish news outlet Kongressen.com about the new Democratic National Committee primary calendar. On Jan. 6, Kedrowski spoke with Brooke Anderson, reporter with The New Arab (online site), about the contest for U.S. speaker and Justin Amash’s declaration that he was willing to be elected as a compromise candidate.
Natalia Ríos Martínez, a senior in political science, international studies and public relations, presented her honors research project, “Rural Legal Deserts in the US,” on Dec. 7 at the fall 2022 Honors Program poster presentation in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Her project advisor was David Peterson, professor in the Department of Political Science. Ríos Martínez is a Kedrowski and Fitzgerald Family Legacy of Heroines scholar and a 2023 Women Impacting ISU calendar honoree.
Diana Santillán, recipient of a 2005 Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, is a senior gender advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Global Health, Office of Population and Reproductive Health. She had served in this position from 2011-2014 and rejoined the team in September 2021.
Mallory Tope, a fall 2022 graduate in journalism & mass communication and political science who served as a student voting engagement intern with the Catt Center, started a position as a communications specialist at John Deere in January.