The Center for Women at Emory celebrated nine women at the 2021 Women of Excellence awards on March 4. The awards were given to women who “demonstrated leadership, inclusivity, and a commitment to making Emory a better place for all.”
The ceremony consisted of eight awards including student and faculty leadership, excellent spirit, mentorship, excellence in teaching and acknowledged female programs, alumni and “unsung” heroes.
Emory’s Center for Women was established 28 years ago, two years after the front page of the Emory Wheel reported two on-campus rape incidents on Feb. 6, 1990. The incidents sparked a campus-wide uproar as a group of faculty, staff, students and alumni pushed for the creation of a women’s center, Director of the Center for Women Chanel Tanner said.
Even during the pandemic, the goals of the Center remain the same as it did during its fruition, Tanner recalled.
“Tonight we remember the Center for Women's beginning as a struggle to hold the University accountable to its commitment to diversity for all, in recognition that a woman's ability to excel in higher education is dependent on having spaces, physical and virtual, where women can be in community with each other,” Tanner said.
The ceremony began with a statement from Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Carol Henderson. She noted that the honorees are women who “have devoted their lives, their research, their work and their leadership” to being a woman’s advocate.
Henderson noted that the challenges engendered by COVID-19 are strenuous and may have a significant strain on women in the future. “Experts now suggest that the impacts of COVID-19 will set women back in the workplace by 10 years,” she said. “Startling, startling news.”
Program of the Year Award
The Program of the Year award was granted to the Women in Surgery at the Emory Residencies (WISER) podcast. The podcast began in 2018 to celebrate notable female surgeons and promote leading women in surgery.
According to Tanner, since WISER Co-Founders Vivian Wang (19MR), who completed her general surgery residency at the Emory School of Medicine, and Caroline Coleman (20M), who is currently completing her internal medicine residency at the Emory School of Medicine, began the podcast, the program has received national attention and has become a “bona-fide community.”
The individuals who nominated WISER for the award called it “a beacon guiding the surgeons of tomorrow” and shared “testimonies of perseverance and achievement in the face of overwhelming odds for their efforts to create an informative and empowering community for women in surgery.”
Berky Dolores Abreu Spirit Award
Director of the Portuguese Program and Senior Lecturer in Portuguese Ana Catarina Teixeira was awarded the Berky Dolores Abreu Spirit Award for her work with first-generation and low-income students. Teixeira co-created Emory’s first ever first-generation day in 2019 and first-generation week in 2020.
“I would not be a proud first-generation graduate myself had it not been for my grandmother who quickly cleared the kitchen table every night so that I could have a place to study from kindergarten,” Teixeira said.
The award was named after the late Berky Dolores Abreu for her 13 years of “extensive contributions” to the department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Emory.
Award for Mentorship
Assistant Director of Training and Development for Residence Life Courtnay Oddman received the Award for Mentorship for her “outstanding dedication to advising, leading and inspiring” students and faculty alike.
Oddman was recognized for her “extensive record of mentoring and for her outstanding dedication to advising, leading and inspiring” the staff and students she has worked with at the University, Tanner said.
“Being a mentor to others is an incredible privilege that I do not take for granted,” Oddman said. “Having the opportunity to create spaces where colleagues and students who can be seen, heard and compassionately challenged are some of the greatest gifts my job has afforded me.”
Award for Excellence in Teaching and Pedagogy
Assistant Research Professor at the Rollins School of Public Health Sarah C. Blake collected the Award for Excellence in Teaching and Pedagogy for her support in academic feminism. One of Blake’s notable achievements is creating Emory’s first and currently only graduate course in women’s health policy in 2003.
The course has since become “one of the most popular courses at Emory,” Tanner said.
Outside of the classroom, Blake works with the Georgia Department of Public Health to address public health disparities and maternal and child health practices. Her work with the Georgia Department of Community Health “has helped translate federal and state policy into actions that can better serve low-income women in the state's Medicaid waiver demonstration,” Tanner noted.
Award for Student Leadership
Adaora Ntukogu (21C) received the Award for Student Leadership for her advocacy for marginalized communities and health and wellness, mentorship to Black women and dedication to “investigating and understanding health disparities.”
Ntukogu is an executive board member of Bloom Emory, a club that “connects Black women to create a safe space for positive health and wellness practices,” and has received previous recognition for her activism. In 2018, she received the Art, Atlanta, Activism (AAA) Artist of the Year award for her paintings depicting “Black women's bodies intended to counter negative conceptualizations of Black womanhood,” Tanner said.
“The tally of nominations received on behalf of Adaora is a true testament to the impact she has had on Emory’s campus,” Tanner said.
Alumna of Promise Award
Julie Schwietert Collaxo (97Ox, 99C) was granted the Alumna of Promise award for her “strong commitment and dedication in the issues that affect women in the Emory community and beyond.”
Collaxo co-founded Immigrant Families Together (IFT), a nonprofit foundation “dedicated to reuniting and supporting the families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border,” according to the IFT website.
“In a six short months and almost entirely through social media, Julie and IFT raised nearly a million dollars,” Tanner said. “Today, they posted bond for more than 80 parents, grandparents and older siblings detained by immigration and separated from their children and families.”
Unsung Heroine Award
Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery Toncred Marya Styblo received the Unsung Heroine award for her achievements as a female surgeon in a male-dominated profession.
After a career of being the only woman in her field, Styblo established the largest breast surgery practice in the Southeast. Her colleague, Emory plastic and reconstructive surgeon Albert Losken, also noted that Styblo’s contributions to reconstructive breast surgery was at the forefront of surgical innovation.
“Emory here has contributed significantly to the field of breast reconstruction,” Losken said. “We’ve pioneered techniques, we’ve refined techniques, and a lot of this has been in large part due to Dr. Styblo’s involvement.”
Award for Distinguished Leadership
Closing out the ceremony, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory School of Medicine Nadine J. Kaslow and Executive Director of Emory Student Health Services Sharon Rabinovitz both received the Award for Distinguished Leadership for their influential management during the pandemic.
In addition to her work for improving the quality of life for women at the Emory School of Medicine, Kaslow was recognized for her work as co-chair of the Class and Labor committee at the School of Medicine.
Rabinowitz was recognized for her achievements as part of the University’s COVID-19 response team since January 2020. Although “often the only woman in the room at the highest levels of decision making and planning,” Tanner noted that Rabinovitz advocates for “COVID-19 responses that more equitably serve our community,” including students from marginalized and first-generation backgrounds, students of color and LGBTQ+ and female students.
Tanner’s closing remarks addressed the nominees’ impact on the Emory community.
“Your journeys have not always been easy, but with vision, tenacity and the Emory community behind you, you have made a profound impact in your spears of influence,” Tanner emphasized.
