Christie Gilson received her BS in 2001 and her PhD in 2008 both in Special Education. President Barack Obama nominated Christie to serve as a member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB) in 2012. Christie who is visually impaired is a disability rights advocate. She has worked in the field of education since graduating from the U of I including teaching English to blind...
Cinda Heeren received her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Illinois in 2004, and became a senior lecturer in the department shortly after. Nominated more than once, Cinda was known as a champion for students on campus. She was a popular teacher, actively encouraged young women to take up programming, and directed the CS@ILLINOIS GEMS (Girls Engaged in Math and Science) camp. As...
Clair Sullivan joined the Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering Department in 2012 as the first female faculty member. Her presence and efforts have allowed the department to hire three additional female faculty members. Clair’s research which is at the interface of radiation detection, big data analytics, and new algorithms led to her selection winner of the 2014 Defense...
Cynthia Oliver joined the College of Fine and Applied Arts’ faculty in 2000 and is now the Director of the MFA Program. She is an affiliate faculty member in Gender and Women Studies, Center for African Studies, African American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Center for Global Studies. Her Caribbean descent allows her to incorporate different cultures into her work and...
Nadya Mason joined the faculty of the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois in 2005. She became the first African American woman to receive tenure in the College of Engineering. Nadya is a winner of the Maria GoeppertMayer Award of the American Physical Society (2012) and the Denice Denton Emerging Leader Award (2009.) Nadya was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows from...
Amelia Darling Alpiner Stern graduated in 1896 with a degree in English and Modern Languages. She is said to be the first female Jewish student to graduate from the University of Illinois and was a founding member of the University’s first sorority, Pi Beta Phi. As an alum, she organized the University of Illinois Mothers Association and became its first president in 1923. Women featured in...
Susan Lindquist graduated with a degree in Microbiology in 1971. She is one of the most respected molecular biologists in the world, now a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan is also the co-founder of FoldRx, a pharmaceutical company, and the first female director of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research at MIT. She received the National Medal of Science award...
Shelia Crump Johnson graduated from the University of Illinois in 1970 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She was the first female African American cheerleader at the University of Illinois. In 1979, Shelia co-founded the ground breaking Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. She is also the Vice Chairman of Monumental Sports and Entertainment and the only African American woman to hold a stake...
Susan “Suze” Orman graduated from the School of Social Work in 1976 and went on to become an influential business icon, known for her financial advice, motivational speaking, writing, and television show. Suze is also the founder of the Suze Orman Financial Group. In 2009, she received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the U of I. Women featured in our weekly series are part of...
Terry Hite David came to the University of Illinois as a sophomore in 1968 as part of the Project 500 group. As a student, she played for the women’s volleyball team before Title IX legislation existed. She graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education, left the university for two years, and then returned to complete a a master’s degree in 1975 in administration. While...