INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN
Welcomes you to the
2011 Annual Summer Celebration
To introduce and honor our
Award Recipients for 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
2:00 PM
Patricia and J. Spencer Standish Room
PROGRAM
Opening Remarks
JoAnne Malatesta
Welcome
President George M. Philip
IFW Sentiments
Jennifer Goodall
Presentation of Awards
Provost Susan D. Phillips
Closing Remarks
Yu-Hui Chen
2011 IFW AWARD RECIPIENTS
ENDOWED AWARDS
Louise C. and Earl M. Applegate Award
Ann Carroll Kearney ($500.)
Ms. Kearney is currently a graduate student in the College of Computing and Information. She will
use her award to complete an additional graduate course, Research Methods, in the Department of
Information Studies during the fall 2011 semester.
Barlow Family Award
Christine Preble ($500.)
Ms. Preble is working on a dissertation in cultural anthropology. She will use her award to further
explore the mutually affecting relationship between local and tourist populations in Cozumel,
Mexico. The purpose of this research is to describe the ways touristic commodification is a dynamic,
mutually constructive process between locale and tourist.
The Gloria R. DeSole Fund for IFW
Cassandra G. Carter ($500.)
Ms. Carter is developing an exciting Albany-based community program to combat childhood
obesity. "Ready, Set …Zumba" will promote healthy behaviors in local Latina and AfricanAmericans girls. These young girls will take part in a six-week program with dance work-outs and
educational sessions on quality nutrition and other beneficial health information. Ms. Carter will use
her funding to acquire skills necessary for implementing and maintaining this program.
Ford Foundation IFW Women in Science Fellowship
MaNtsetse Kgama ($500.)
Ms. Kgama will complete an internship at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases
(NICD) in South Africa. Through this opportunity she will be able to contribute to the NICD's
Outbreak Response Unit. She will investigate large and small scale incidences and collect
epidemiological data in order to identify sources of disease infection.
Darlene Yule ($1000.)
Ms. Yule is a graduate student at the School of Public Health. Her research interests include
reducing health disparities in Latino populations. Her goal is to learn from Latino public health
leaders in South America and apply that knowledge to improve health promotion programs for
Latino women in the Capital District.
The Judy L. Genshaft Fund for IFW Scholarship
Senem Guney ($500.)
Dr. Guney’s project involves participation in the largest and most prestigious international
conference in the field of organization science – the Academy of Management (AoM)---to be held
this August in San Antonio, Texas. In addition to presenting papers she will attend professional
development workshops and other networking activities at the AoM meeting.
The Ann Gustin IFW Scholarship for Women in Law & Government
Jennifer Goodall Woodward ($400.)
Ms. Woodward is a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science. Her dissertation will
explore the early interpretations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from the perspective of the public
and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's responses to individual complaints. She will
use her funding for supplies and travel to the National Archives so she may review letters of
correspondence between the public and the Commission.
The Haynes-Davis Memorial Scholarship
Alison J. Rivers ($700.)
Ms. Rivers is conducting her master’s thesis research on the resilience across a spectrum of positive
life variables in the caregivers of individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. Further knowledge of resilience
in these caregivers may aid in enhancing life adjustment in deserving females. Ms. Rivers is dedicated
to helping others through clinical psychology.
Karen R. Hitchcock New Frontiers Fund
Sherly Abraham ($500.)
Ms. Abraham will be using the IFW funds to attend the doctoral consortium in Organizational
Communications and Information Systems (OCIS), a division of the Academy of Management.
This is a great opportunity for Ms. Abraham to present her dissertation work and obtain feedback
from experts in the field.
Andrea Hobkirk ($700.)
Ms. Hobkirk will use her award to support her doctoral work. Through her dissertation research
she will assess physiological and biological responses to stress among Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
patients. MS is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects millions of women world-wide. Through
this research Ms. Hobrick will better understand how stress is related to symptoms and how future
psychological interventions can mitigate the negative effects of stress.
Lenore Horowitz ($500.)
Ms. Horowitz is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Informatics. She will attend the
international Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2011 conference. This conference
is the world's largest gathering of technical women in computing. Lenore will greatly benefit from
this truly inspirational, energetic event with wonderful opportunities for mentoring, motivation,
networking, technical and career development.
Maryann Kelly ($500.)
Ms. Kelly’s dissertation focuses on the changing activities and lessons of the Mexican Girl Guide
Movement. Her research funding will help her to evaluate how women's civic participation, athletic
endeavors, and engagement with global women's movements advanced a new and changing sense of
citizenship in twentieth-century Mexico.
Meghan O'Neil Kuebler ($500.)
Ms. O'Neil Kuebler is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology. She will use her award
for her doctoral research. Her dissertation entitled, Does Neighborhood Racial Composition Matter When
Individuals Seek Home Financing? : A National Analysis of Discrimination in the Mortgage Market will
examine the availability of mortgages in minority neighborhoods. The project uses nationally
representative data and HLM statistical modeling to determine whether banks discriminate against
minority neighborhoods.
Rebekah L. Layton ($500.)
Ms. Layton is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on
whether regular intensive physical exercise can help individuals build self-control. Understanding
how self-control can be built, both from a theoretical standpoint and a practical aspect. This
research may open many doors to help those most in need of interventions to target self-control.
Sean Heather McGraw ($500.)
Ms. McGraw, a doctoral student in the Department of History, will use this funding to conduct
dissertation research in Ireland. Her thesis, Founding Sisterhoods Margaret Anna Cusack and Catherine
McAuley, looks at the work of women in 19th century religious orders and their establishment of
social welfare and education programs for poor young women.
Vipanchi Mishra ($500.)
Ms. Mishra will use her IFW grant to present two research studies and attend the doctoral
consortium at the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology's annual conference. Her first
study investigates the influence of raters’ cultural values on performance ratings, and the second
study examines participants’ motivation in assessment centers.
Xiaoai Ren ($400.)
Ms. Ren is pursuing a Ph.D. in Informatics. This award will be used for her doctoral research. This
project is a case study of three New York Public Library Systems. She will analyze service decisionmaking processes in these organizations through the lens of classic decision-making theories:
Rational Choice theory and Garbage-can decision model. Findings will contribute to a better
understanding of public library systems, decision-making theories, and their application in non-profit
organizations.
Megan E. Rolfe ($500.)
Ms. Rolfe is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology. She will use her IFW
award to support her dissertation research. This project is a qualitative study exploring the
intersections of whiteness and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer identity.
Shannon Scotece ($650.)
Ms. Scotece is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science. Through her
research she seeks to understand faith-based mobilization and activism, as well as the ways religious
organizations are using modern tools to shape the policy debates on health care, climate change, and
immigration.
Honoring Our Mothers Award
Brandie M. Dingman ($500.)
Ms. Dingman will use her award to cover costs associated with statistical training taken at the
University of Buffalo to assist with data coding, interpretation, and analysis necessary to finalize her
graduate research project. Her Master's Thesis is entitled Latinos Locked Out: A Critical Demographic
Analysis of Racism, Sexism and Language Accents in Rental Access. As a young single mother, Ms.
Dingman has overcome many obstacles to achieve her educational goals.
Nelli Sargsyan-Pittman ($500.)
Ms. Sargsyan-Pittman’s dissertation is entitled Queering the Armenian Diaspora. In her research she
investigates how queer Armenian women from the Armenian diaspora and Armenia, oppressed as
women and as non-heteronomative, carve a discursive space for themselves through their
transnational queer activism in patriarchal and heteronormative Armenian circles in Yerevan,
Armenia. Nelli noted in her packet that "being a mother of a two and a half year-old curious little
girl and pursuing a graduate career can be challenging in terms of juggling finances, time, and
energy." We are proud that she has excelled with meeting these challenges.
Initiatives For Women Endowment Award
Paulina Berrios ($600.)
Ms. Berrios is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Administration and Policy
Studies. She will use her IFW grant to cover expenses related to dissertation fieldwork that is
important with understanding the experiences, perceptions, and motivations for working as
university part-time faculty in Chile.
Sara Dapson ($400.)
Ms. Dapson will attend the National Women's Studies Association Conference in order to build on
and challenge current global feminist analysis and praxia, particularly around women's organizing
and autonomy in the Middle East as well as neoliberal devaluation of the humanities in the United
States.
Amy Starosta ($500.)
Ms. Starosta is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology. Her research focuses on sexual risk
behavior. Her IFW project consists of a web-based motivational enhancement intervention,
specifically targeted to college women, as they are at greater risk of STIs and HIV/AIDS because of
both increased physical risk for acquiring STIs and HIV and previously shown tendency to under
report risky sexual behaviors.
Physicians' Endowment Fund for Initiatives for Women
Bianca Weathers ($600.)
Ms. Weathers is an undergraduate majoring in Human Biology. Her project entails the
advancement of her education, in particular in the medical field. This IFW award will help her to
attain her dream of becoming an obstetrician.
The Susan Van Horn-Shipherd '64 Women in Science Scholarship
Gretchen L. Beach ($700.)
Ms. Beach will use her award to fund her dissertation research. She is studying the symbiotic
relationships between cholera-causing Vibrio cholera bacteria and planktonic copepods and
investigating how the copepods may increase the ability of these bacteria to cause cholera in
humans.
The Women in Technology Award
Amanda S. Danko ($500.)
Ms. Danko is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science. She will use her funding to attend and present
her research at the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology’s 2011 annual Grace Hopper
Celebration of Women in Computing. This conference will give Amanda the opportunity to receive
feedback and insight into her research as well as network with professionals in her field.
GENERAL AWARDS
Susan Appe ($500.)
Ms. Appe is a Ph.D. candidate in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. Her
dissertation examines women's organizations' response to recently implemented government policy
and their use of a framework of 'rights talk' within the complexity of being both women and
indigenous in Ecuador.
Wendy Prudencio ($500.)
Ms. Prudencio’s project encompasses field research in New York State farms through interviews
with immigrant and migrant farm workers. She will partner with local programs to connect with
farm workers, and conduct interviews and note observations. The end goal is to produce a
qualitative case study analysis based on the field research on the mental health of immigrant workers.
Technology Leaders of Today ($500.)
Technology Leaders of Today is an initiative of the College of Computing and Information
Women in Technology (CCIWIT) Program. Its goal is to empower and support women studying
computing and information. This speaker series brings role models to campus to talk about the
challenges and successes along their paths. It also provides a networking opportunity for students,
faculty, and members of the Tech Valley and local women in the technology community.
Please plan on joining us next year
2012 Annual Summer Celebration
July 19, 2012 – 2:00pm
Patricia and J. Spencer Standish Room
The Initiatives for Women would like to extend sincere thanks to those
individuals who contribute to this organization. Their generosity, through
financial contributions, time, and energy make these awards possible.
Edna Acosta-Belen, Ph.D.
Jeanette Altarriba
Maureen Archambault, MD
Judith Barlow, Ph.D.
Christine Bose, Ph.D.
Barbara Brown
Meredith Butler
Diane Cardone
Anna M. Carey
Chartwells Catering Services
YuHui Chen
Angela C. Datri
Gloria DeSole, Ph.D.
Brian Doubleday
Sue R. Faerman, Ph.D.
Anne E. Fortune, Ph.D.
Carol Anne Germain
Judith Genshaft, Ph.D.
Evan Golar
Jennifer Goodall
Christine S. Greenberg
Karen R. Hitchcock, Ph.D.
Erica Hutchins
Shirley Jones, Ph.D.
Sharon R. Kantor, Ph.D., Esq
Jane B. Kadish
Deborah LaFond
Donna Lahue
Martha LePow, MD
Thank you for your support!
Cara Long
JoAnne Malatesta, Ph.D.
Maritza Martinez
Sharmaine G. Moseley
Alison Olin-Ciesiel
Theresa A. Pardo Ph.D.
George Philip, J.D.
Susan D. Phillips, Ph.D.
Librada Pimentel
Colin Quin
Peter Recore-Migirditch
Vincent Reda
Linda Reeves
Patricia E. Salkin, Esq.
Rebecca Salinas
Cynthia Scott DiNardo
Betty Shadrick
Lisa A. Sheldon
Karen B. Shulman
Lorre Smith
Susan Supple
Gregory Turek
Kathy Turek
University Auxiliary Service
The University Libraries
Lindsay Van Berkom
Gregory Van Buskirk, Ph.D.
Susan Van Horn Shipherd
Stephanie Wacholder
Thank you for
your support!