Cathryn Claussen, middle, receives the 2011 Woman of the Year award at the Women’s Recognitioin Luncheon, with President Elson S. Floyd, left, and his wife Carmento Floyd, right. Photo by Shelly Hanks, WSU Photo Services
PULLMAN – Cathryn Claussen, professor and director of WSU’s sports management program, was named the 2011 Woman of the Year at the annual Women’s Recognition Luncheon today. Four others were honored with Woman of Distinction awards.
To be considered for the awards, candidates had to distinguish themselves in academic work, career, leadership and public service. Also, each had to contribute to the personal growth and success of others, especially women, through education, research and public or outstanding volunteer service.
Claussen recently received international acclaim for the second edition of her leading textbook in sport law. Her scholarship focuses on civil and constitutional rights in the context of sport and promotes positive social change, most notably through gender equity.
She has participated in the Association for Faculty Women at WSU with a mission to advance women across the university community. She has consulted on sexual harassment policy for other institutions of higher education and is a former institutional reviewer for the NCAA certification process, which evaluates the integrity of member universities relative to equity and student-athlete welfare, academic integrity and effective governance.
Claussen has been honored with the WSU Athletic Department Faculty Excellence Recognition Award four times.
Her leadership abilities and persistent advocacy for faculty interests led to her election as Faculty Senate chair – only the third woman to hold this position. In addition, she has chaired the Faculty Affairs Committee of the senate, playing a crucial role in revision of the faculty manual and facilitating many protections for faculty at WSU.
Women of distinction:
* Retired from a staff position after a 20-year career as director of WSU Jefferson County Extension, Katherine Baril successfully mentored business leaders, convened stakeholders on economic initiatives, led consensus-based decision making processes that built strong coalitions, explored and shaped policies and more. Her work has linked university research to local community needs in a way that connects the best thinking and engages citizens in working together.
As a result of her work, there are more than 50 new agricultural businesses in Jefferson County and a renaissance of local food and farm programs. Her advocacy, commitment and vision resulted in the support and growth of a local food and farm industry, now a statewide model, and piloted a new FIELD (microenterprise) program where young farmers work on local farms learning skills in sustainable food production.
Baril’s leadership led to the first WSU community learning center in Washington. Selected as a higher ed pilot for the state in Port Hadlock, the center initiated the growth of 11 WSU learning centers.
* A distinguished exemplar of WSU alumnae, Deborah Gracio earned her bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from WSU and has since led high-impact research and development activities at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in computational environments for biology, chemistry, atmospheric modeling and biodefense. Her achievements have resulted in major awards, including recognition as an Outstanding Woman in Engineering by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Gracio’s passion for helping students is demonstrated through her mentoring of female engineering students at the Pullman and Tri-Cities campuses, as well as interns within and outside of the WSU system. She serves as a member of the Executive Council for the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at WSU and in that role has elevated the school and contributed to the personal growth and success of the faculty and students through education and research.
She is committed to achieving social change by empowering others. This commitment is exemplified by her work as project manager of the Tri-Cities Habitat for Humanity Women Build project. In this role she planned and managed the women-only project, devoting thousands of hours to encouraging women to work for positive change.
* Amy Skinder-Meredith is a leader in teaching, community service and scholarship. In 2006, she became an assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at WSU Spokane.
She has distinguished herself as an expert on childhood apraxia of speech and has committed herself to be an agent of change in the world. Her dedication to personal and professional mentorship is evidenced by the many educational opportunities she provides her students.
In 2009 Skinder-Meredith took undergraduate students to China. She recently took students to Guatemala as part of a Hearts in Motion cleft palate/plastic surgery mission trip.
Her commitment to making the world a better place extends beyond her research, scholarship and teaching, as evidenced in her personal life. She is a devoted mother who has adopted her daughter from China and son from Kasakhstan, both of whom were born with cleft lip and palate.
* Robin Woltering has been a teaching assistant/aide in the Palouse School District for more than a decade. She has contributed to the leadership of women and female students in ways that go far beyond those responsibilities associated with her formal role.
She recognizes that the future educational success, through the college level, can be keyed to the quality of care received by our youngest citizens, and in particular female students during their elementary, middle and high school years. Providing quality early childhood education and care is not just a matter of convenience for Robin as a career professional. Rather, for her, it is necessary for the survival of society and the advancement of women in particular.
She has an awareness that the lessons imparted to our young people from a quality teacher dramatically improve their odds of success in life, as well as reducing risks associated with anti-social behavior.
“I have been very impressed by her dedication to, and her effective advocacy of, children’s issues and in particular female student issues,“ said her nominator.