Barbara A. Yates was the founding and first Director of the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program (WGGP), serving from 1980 to 1985. She received her PhD in comparative education and history from Columbia University. She is a Professor Emerita in Comparative Education at the University of Illinois and a pioneer in the field of women in international development. Barbara established WGGP...
Iris Chang graduated from the University of Illinois in 1989 with a degree in Journalism. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois, she was a student of the University High Laboratory High School. While an undergraduate, she was on staff at the Daily Illini. As an alum, she wrote for the New York Times producing six front-page articles in one year. In 1997, she wrote the best-selling book,...
Jeanne Gang graduated with a degree in architecture in 1986. As an alum, she is an architect and MacArthur Fellow who founded the firm Studio Gang Architects in Chicago and New York. Her work is well known, most notably including the Aqua skyscraper, the largest project ever awarded to an American firm headed by a woman, and the Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo. She was an International...
Leslie Erganian received her Master of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Illinois in 1982. While a graduate student, she won the Outstanding Teaching Award in 1981 and 1982. As an alum, she has become a well- known artist and photographer with several exhibitions, publications, and television appearances. Right after graduation, Leslie displayed her work at the Phyllis Needlman...
Mary Temple Grandin graduated with a PhD from the College of ACES in 1989. Mary is a well-known professor of animal sciences, but she is best known for being one of the first individuals on the autism spectrum to speak out about her experience with autism. She has authored several books and articles, both about her personal experiences as well as research regarding livestock. In her research, she...
May Berenbaum joined the Entomology Department at the University of Illinois in 1980. She has been Head of the Entomology Department since 1992, and Swanlund Chair of Entomology since 1996. May is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2009, she received the Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award from the American Advancement of Science. May has received several other...
Mildred Trent joined the staff of the College of Education and Office of Diversity around 1984. A constant source of encouragement, Dean Trent was a gracious leader, mentor, educator and friend to students, faculty, staff, administrators, parents, and community members throughout the extended University of Illinois system. Dean Trent motivated others to achieve their highest potential. She...
Ollie Watts Davis, an alum of the University of Illinois, joined the College of Fine and Applied Arts faculty in 1987. She is the founding director of the Black Sacred Music Symposium (1991), held biennially on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus with participants from across the nation. In 1993, Ollie received the College of Fine and Applied Arts Outstanding Faculty Award, an...
Sharon Hedrick received two Masters’ degrees from the University of Illinois, in 1982 and in 1986. Sharon was the first female wheelchair competitor in the Boston Marathon, competing in 1977. That same year, she won the Top Female Athlete Award at the National Wheelchair Games. She was also the first wheelchair athlete to win in the 1984 Olympics, and the only US athlete to win gold in both the...
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Law in 1971. She established herself as a feminist advocate in Taiwan through her writing, including a book titled New Feminism. She was an advocate for democracy in Taiwan and imprisoned for over five years for speaking out against the government during the Kaohsiung Incident. While imprisoned, she wrote a novel...