University at Albany's Initiatives For Women to Present Fourth Annual Award Celebration

University at Albany Press Release
Contact: Lisa James (518) 442-3093
Reprinted with permission.

Initiatives for Women (IFW), a major fundraising program at the University at Albany that enhances the educational and career opportunities for women, will present their Fourth Annual Award Celebration on Monday, July 14 at 2 p.m. in the Campus Center Assembly Hall on the University’s uptown campus.The purpose of the event is to introduce and honor the 1997 IFW award recipients. University President Karen R. Hitchcock will be a special guest at the event.

IFW supports endowed scholarships, fellowships, excellence awards for students, internships and training programs, career planning and advisement, research on women and women's issues, academic and career advancement for women of color, and educational and professional initiatives for physically challenged women and others in particular need.

Gloria DeSole, Senior Advisor to the President for Affirmative Action and Employment Planning and Chair of the Initiatives for Women Steering Committee said, "The opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of women whose dreams need support is a privilege."

Past winners of grants from Initiatives for Women have worked to improve their lives in a many different ways and this year's winners are no exception. Among those honored for the 1997 round of awards are:

• Shakira Franco, a M.S. student in Epidemiology, to help finish her thesis project which analyzes prenatal care and assistance programs data in an attempt to assess racial and ethnic differences on the risk of HIV on pregnant and postpartum women.
  
  
• Hermas Rodriguez-Perez, an M.A. student in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, to travel to El Salvador to study reintegration to civilian life of women "guerrillas" after a ten-year civil war.
  
  
• Marlene Sarjeant, a Ph.D. student in Ecology, for financial support to hire a research assistant for her project on the status of the Karner butterfly, and
  
  
• Mary Sullivan, a M.A./C.A.S. student in Public History, to replace failed computer equipment.